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The Ministry of Health's proposal for the implementation of a Population Screening Programme for the diagnosis of Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) was approved today by the Council of Ministers.
The programme, as Minister of Health Dr. Popi Kanari said in a statement, after the conclusion of the Council of Ministers, will be included in the framework of the implementation of the General Health System and the examination will be carried out on the basis of a relevant protocol, by personal physicians..
The main objective of the programme, she stressed, is the early detection of cases of ASD so that there can be early intervention in the early developmental stages of the child's life.
The examination, the Minister explained, will be done using the special screening tool at the age of 18-23 months and will be repeated at the age of 24-30 months. Children who are not beneficiaries of GHS will be able to be referred for screening, at the hospitals of the OCHS.
Children identified as having a high risk score will be referred for further diagnostic evaluation to medical specialists such as child psychiatrists, clinical geneticists and paediatric neurologists. Assessment and intervention is multilevel and multidisciplinary and may include other health professionals such as psychologists, speech and language therapists and occupational therapists.
The implementation of the Tracking Program, Dr. Kanari concluded, will be monitored by a multidisciplinary committee to be established by the Ministry of Health.
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