UN canvasses better deal for autism patients

By : Sunday Aikulola

Date: 3 April 2020 3:59am WAT

(FILES) In this file photo UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres looks on at the opening of the UN Human Rights Council's main annual session on February 24, 2020 in Geneva. - The coronavirus pandemic is threatening the entire human race, the United Nations said on March 25, 2020 as it launched a humanitarian response that includes appeals for $2 billon for the world's poorest people."COVID-19 is threatening the whole of humanity -ñ and the whole of humanity must fight back. Global action and solidarity are crucial. Individual country responses are not going to be enough," Secretary General Antonio Guterres said in announcing the initiative. (Photo by Fabrice COFFRINI / AFP)

United Nations Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, has insisted that the rights of persons with autism must be taken into account in the formulation of all COVID-19 responses.

In his goodwill message to mark the 2020 World Autism Awareness Day yesterday, he said: “We recognise and celebrate the rights of persons with autism. This year’s observance took place in the midst of a public health crisis unlike any other in our lifetime – a crisis that places persons with autism at disproportionate risk as a result of the coronavirus and its impact on the society.”

Specifically, Guterres stressed that the patients had rights to self-determination, education and employment on an equitable basis.

The UN chief regretted that statistics of vital support systems and networks in the face of the coronavirus outbreak had shown worse situations being encountered by persons with autism while trying to exercise these inalienable rights of theirs.