World Health Organization to train more autism counselors in China

XIAMEN, Dec. 12 (Xinhua) -- The World Health Organization (WHO) will train 40 national counselors in China to help children with autism in 2018.

Chiara Servili, director of the WHO Mental Health and Substance Abuse Department, said the organization had trained 16 national master trainers in China since 2015.

The training is part of the WHO Caregiver Skills Training plan, which uses family-based interventions to treat children with autism.

Qin Guoying, vice president of China Women's Development Foundation, said the WHO would establish 40 national-level trainers and 160 provincial level trainers, helping 10,000 children in China next year.

Autism has an incidence of between 1 and 2 percent worldwide. In China, more than 13 million people suffer from autism, including an estimated 1.8 million children. Enditem