Dagupan City (6 August) -- Health Secretary Francisco Duque III will be the guest of honor and speaker of the 1st North Luzon Child Care Development Convention on August 22, 2008 at the Jimmy L. Fernandez Center Stadia in Tapuac, Dagupan City.

Medialink Events Management, manager of the convention, said the event aims "to enlighten the public on less known facts that affect behavior such as autism, cognitive and motor delays, behavioral and learning disabilities, AD/HD and how to deal with these concerns."

The symposium is supported by government units including the cities of Dagupan, San Carlos, Urdaneta, San Fernando, Baguio and Laoag.

Duque recently received a World Health Organization citation that ranked the Philippines particularly the Department of Health as the champion having piled the greatest number of points in dealing with child care problems.

On July 30, 2008, the city of Dagupan signed a memorandum of agreement with Breaking Barriers for Young Adults with Disabilities and KAMPI committing support for children, women and persons with disabilities.

Kharmina Velasco, events chairman, said the symposium seeks to empower the front liners on child care including parents, teachers, nurses, doctors, caregivers, social workers, occupational therapist and even school administrators.She added that the public especially the students (medical, healthcare and education field) must actively participate in the convention citing its value and importance at this time.

Christopher Navalta of Medialink secretariat said autistic patients are socially maladjusted individuals, They may have repetitive behavior and may resist attention or passively accept hugs and cuddling, they do not babble, point, or make meaningful gestures by 1 year of age and "have a tendency to lose control, particularly when they're in a strange or overwhelming environment, or when angry and frustrated, lose language or social skills and in most cases they have poor eye contact.

Research shows that autism occurs in all countries and within all socio-economic classes. It is the fastest-growing serious developmental disability in the United States. It was learned that autism affects about 1 in 150 children, 1 in 94 boys in diagnosed in the autism spectrum disorder and 67 children are diagnosed with the ailment each day.