Sri Lanka’s First Lady speaks at the autism conference in Bangladesh

Sri Lanka’s First Lady Shiranthi Rajapaksa addressed the two-day international
conference on autism that began today at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in Dhaka to seek
ways to enhance autism related services in Bangladesh as well as in the South
Asian region.

Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the conference this
morning while Indian ruling Congress Party president Sonia Gandhi was the chief
guest.

Around 5,000 participants including autism experts, researchers, patrons, and
parents of autistic children from Bangladesh and abroad participate in the
conference on ‘Autism Spectrum Disorders and Developmental Disabilities in
Bangladesh and South Asia’.

During the first-ever regional conference on autism, the participating
countries are to establish a South Asia Autism Network to identify solutions to
common challenges faced by each country and to provide training and conduct
further research on the subject.

First lady of Indonesia Ani Bambang Yudhoyono, Speaker of National Assembly
of Pakistan Dr. Fehmida

Mirza, second lady of the Maldives Ilham Hussain, Health Minister of Bhutan
Zangling Drukpa, high level delegation and representatives from more than a
dozen countries and World Health Organization (WHO) are attending the
conference.