Time for a national autism strategy

A greater investment in research and a focus on early intervention treatments to help those with autism is required urgently, writes Dr Geraldine Leader

Last week, the Centre for Disease Control and Prevention updated its estimate of autism prevalence in the US to 1 in 88 children.

By comparison, this is more children than are affected by diabetes, Aids, cancer, cerebral palsy, cystic fibrosis, muscular dystrophy or Down syndrome combined. The statistics, based on a 2008 snapshot of 14 monitoring sites, represent a 78% increase in autism over the previous five years.