ABSTRACT
This chapter summarizes how service provisions for people with disabilities have evolved in the country despite limited resources and competing needs. Health care services for persons with disabilities are sorely challenged in Bangladesh due to inaccessibility. In Bangladesh, persons with disabilities are suffering from limited employment and educational opportunities, social discrimination and isolation. One of the biggest challenges for persons with disabilities in Bangladesh results from the allocation of all disability-related issues solely to the Ministry of Social Welfare. The tremendous awareness generated by the conference both in Bangladesh and in the region has brought the issue of children's mental health and developmental disabilities like autism to the forefront of the public health system in Bangladesh and South East Asia. A Global Autism Public Health Initiative (GAPH) National Advisory Committee comprised of parents, professionals and government officials composed a Situation Analysis on Neurodevelopmental Disabilities and Autism for the first time in Bangladesh.
