A national committee has been created by TETFund to work out how an autism centre could be sited in every one of the six regions into which Nigeria is divided politically.
Through the initiative, people on the autism spectrum and their families should find it easier to reach specialist care, research and other forms of support.
At the inauguration in Abuja, TETFund's Executive Secretary, Sonny Echono, asked the members to come up with recommendations that are practical, grounded in evidence and sustainable, for locating the centres in chosen university medical schools.
Echono said the TETFund programme would draw on the Special High Impact Intervention for colleges of medicine, a scheme that improves the facilities and equipment used in training doctors, pharmacists, nurses, dentists, and other allied health workers.
He explained that every centre would offer diagnosis at an early stage, assessments of children's development, therapy, rehabilitation, research, and training for professionals, together with public awareness work and support for families and carers.
In his view, placing the centres across each of the six regional zones would make specialised autism services easier to reach. It would also build up expertise at home and ease the strain on families who now travel far to find suitable care.
Echono added that the centres are under consideration for funding in the 2027 TETFund Special Intervention, which depends on what the committee finds, on eligible institutions being identified, on the resources available and on the required approvals.
Committee members were asked to ground their recommendations in thorough assessments of need, practical costings, suitable technical standards, deliverables that can be measured and believable plans for keeping the projects going.
He also called for clear and open criteria when choosing the institutions that will host the centres. These include how widely they are spread across the country, the hospitals and teaching resources already in place, and their staffing capacity. They also include their level of commitment and whether they can keep the centres running over time.
The Executive Secretary also pressed the committee to speed up its assignment, above all the task of pinpointing suitable institutions and evaluating what they need, so that the planned projects could be taken up in the 2027 budget for interventions.
Significant Step
Replying, the committee's chairperson, Professor Ebunoluwa Adejuyigbe, who is also Vice-Chancellor of the University of Medical Sciences, Ondo, called the task an important step towards a framework for autism treatment, study and support. She said this should happen within communities that people can reach and that will last.
A paediatrician by training, Adejuyigbe observed that numerous Nigerian families with autistic children experience late diagnosis, owing to denial, limited availability of specialist care, money problems and a shortage of professional support.
Adejuyigbe set out five priorities for the committee:
- patient treatment and early intervention
- innovation and research
- capacity building and training
- inclusion and engagement with communities
- quality assurance alongside sustainability
In her view, the centres should do more than offer clinical care. They should also produce research that suits local conditions, build up the skills of professionals, and deepen knowledge of neurodevelopmental conditions such as autism across Nigeria and the wider African continent.
According to Adejuyigbe, studying how common autism is in Nigeria, along with the factors that shape neurodevelopment, would yield evidence that can guide public policy and clinical practice, while also adding to the world's scientific knowledge.
She further urged that staffing should draw on many disciplines, including specialists in child health, psychiatry and psychology, therapists for speech, language and occupational needs, educators trained in special needs and other appropriate practitioners.
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TeTFund Autism Center: Community Engagement
On community involvement, she insisted that the centres should work hand in hand with local primary health centres, schools and their teaching staff, community health workers, faith and traditional leaders, and organisations representing parents, autistic persons and their relatives. This, she said, would encourage early identification, referrals, help for carers and a reduction in stigma.
Centres should not be set up, she cautioned, without firm plans for running them over the long term, and she insisted that the recommendations must cover sustainability, governance, financing, maintenance of equipment, and monitoring and evaluation.
“Our success must not be measured merely by the number of centres established, but by the number of individuals and families whose lives are positively transformed, the communities reached, and the knowledge generated to improve autism care in Nigeria and across Africa,” she said.
The committee should propose suitable medical schools and universities to host the centres, set minimum standards for them, draw up implementation timetables and projected costs, and put forward a framework for monitoring and evaluation.
The project is intended to boost dedicated autism care and research, the training of professionals, awareness among the public, and support structures that include autistic people.
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