1.6 million children in KSA suffer from ADHD

An estimated 1.6 million Saudi children suffer from attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD), a psychiatric neurodevelopmental disorder, local media said quoting a recently released medical study.
By contrast, there are only 40 specialist doctors to deal with these cases Kingdom-wide, the medical study said.
The Saudi Attention Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder Society (AFTA) will launch a seven-day training program from Friday in conjunction with the Health Ministry to help 120 nationwide doctors qualify to treat cases of ADHD.
The program, which will run between April 11 and April 17 at the premises of the Royal Commission for Jubail and Yanbu (RCJY) in Riyadh, will include interactive workshops, along with clinical cases.
The program will also include a six-hour workshop on the diagnosis and treatment of ADHD and how to raise awareness about the disorder.
Around 11 percent of schoolchildren in the US and 15 percent of children in Saudi Arabia suffer from ADHD, according to recent studies.
The American Academy of Pediatrics Physicians has insisted on the role of physicians and primary health care practitioners in controlling the disorder.
The training program will be jointly supervised by a team of keynote physicians from the US and Saudi Arabia, which is primarily aimed at qualifying more young physicians to achieve the set objectives of the program.
AFTA was registered at the Ministry of Social Affairs five years ago in September 2009. The society aims to provide support for people with ADHD to contribute to community awareness and to decrease the negative effects of the disorder.