China opens autism telemedicine platform to public registration

BEIJING -- A telemedicine platform for people with autism, the first of its kind in China, opened to public registration Tuesday, the People's Daily app reported.

Registered patients with autism will be able to receive various services from diagnosis and consultation to treatment, nursing and rehabilitation training by pediatricians, nurses, care workers and educators and offline medical institutions included in China's national telemedicine system.

By means of telemedicine technologies, the platform also offers training and education programs in partnership with overseas rehabilitation institutions for domestic families with an autistic member.

The platform is jointly launched by the National Telemedicine and Connected Health Center, the Telemedicine Management and Training Center and the Primary-care Telemedicine Development Directory Center under the National Health Commission and the Beijing Jingyi Rehabilitation Center for Autistic Children.

April 2 marks World Autism Awareness Day, and the theme for this year was determined as "Assistive Technologies, Active Participation" by the United Nations.

Today, autism affects more than 10 million people in China, 98.7 percent of which have no access to proper treatment provided by formal rehabilitation facilities, said the newspaper.