Prompt treatment: Department of Health Consultant Paediatrician Dr Catherine Lam (left) calls on nursery and kindergarten teachers who notice children with development problems to advise parents to seek medical advice.

Early detection and treatment is vital to tackling childhood development problems, Department of Health Consultant Paediatrician Dr Catherine Lam says.

Dr Lam said the department's Child Assessment Service handled 6,439 cases last year, and more than 50% involved children under four.

Of these, over 1,600 were related to speech and language problems, 1,120 to emotional or behavioural difficulties, 1,200 to hearing impairment, 850 to developmental delay and 850 to learning problems.

Noting language difficulties are a common symptom of many development disorders, Dr Lam called on nursery and kindergarten teachers who notice children with the problem to advise parents to seek medical advice.

Rising cases

Dr Lam said with the gradual establishment of systematic surveillance efforts in recent years, referrals of children with hearing impairment to the service rose from 400 in 1999 to 1,200 last year.

Dyslexia is another area of concern with over 600 cases last year, while there were only sporadic ones reported in the mid-1990s.

Dr Lam said increasing trends were also seen in autistic spectrum disorders, and attention deficit and hyperactivity disorders. Cases of these two categories rose from 202 and 276 in 2002, to 451 and 522 last year. She attributed the rise to increasing public awareness.

The service operates seven centres to provide comprehensive physical, psychological and social assessment for children, from birth to 11 years of age, with developmental anomalies.

The centres also formulate rehabilitation plans, assist in arranging appropriate pre-school and school placements for training, remedial and special education where necessary, and support to parents and children.

Pamphlets available

To aid people in identifying and helping children with development needs, the department has issued an educational pamphlet series, focusing on common complications like speech and language problems, emotional and behavioural difficulties, hearing loss, developmental delay and learning difficulties.

The pamphlets will be provided to health centres offering developmental surveillance, pre-school settings, the Social Welfare Department's community centres, paediatricians, academic institutions and public libraries.

For enquiries on the pamphlet call 2246 6659.