Jul 1 2002
 

Tomos Livingstone Tomos.Livingstone@Wme.Co.Uk, The Western Mail

AUTISM cases have risen 10-fold in the past decade and policy-makers admit that Wales is unprepared to deal with the increase.

A new National Assembly all-party committee on autism says the increase in numbers suffering from the disease has left health and education services struggling to cope.

Today doctors' leaders will call for research to ascertain the reasons for the increase, which some campaigners blame on the controversial MMR vaccine.

Although reliable figures on autism cases are difficult to ascertain because no central register of each individual sufferer is kept, the Medical Research Council says there are 10 times as many cases as there were a decade ago.

The Assembly committee puts the figure at more than 27,000 sufferers of autism spectrum disorder.

Assembly Member Dr Dai Lloyd, who chairs the committee, says the rise in autism cases is one of the biggest challenges facing policy-makers.

"People are much more prepared to make the diagnosis," he said.

"The diagnosis is quite common but the resources are not there. We need specialist clinics and consultants, but there is no capacity."

Dr Lloyd said the lack of reliable information on the numbers of autism sufferers was a serious problem.

"We need more research," he said. "One of the problems is you get diagnosed in the health service but treated in the education service. You then get a situation where education authorities say there are about 40 cases in their area but the health service says there are 2,000 cases."

Dr Lloyd said a central register of sufferers would be useful.

He claimed the debate on the triple measles, mumps and rubella vaccine and its possible links to the rise in autism was sterile and the real question was how to deal with the disease.

His call for more research will be echoed this week by doctors from Powys who will be attending the British Medical Association's annual conference.

Powys consultant Dr Bernard Charnley, who will be proposing a motion that current research is inadequate, says stories about links with MMR are clouding the issue.

"In the public's mind there is no doubt MMR and autism seem to share headlines," he said.

"I think there's a lack of awareness of the needs of autistic people. They need considerable resources putting into the system.

"GPs and other doctors get contacted by people concerned about MMR and autism and we need to know what the reason is for the increase in cases."

Families who claim their children have developed autism after having the triple vaccine say that any new research which disregards a possible link between the two will be useless.

Julie Loch, of Newport, whose five-year-old son Oliver has autism which she blames on the vaccine, said, "In part, the MMR vaccine does account for the increase.

"I think in order to resolve the issue the Government should commission an independent inquiry into autism and MMR."

Mrs Loch said provision of services for autistic children was inadequate.

She and her family had to take legal action to force the local authority to open a special autism unit in their area.

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