Salman Khan: The Face of Autism in India

Autism is ‘apervasive developmental disorder characterized by severe deficits in social interaction and communication, by an extremely limited range of activities and interests, and often by the presence of repetitive, stereotyped behaviors’.

In April of 2012, the CDC released new statistical data which placed the prevalence of autism in the U.S. at approximately 1 in every 88 children. This statistic shows that the number of reported cases of autism has increased dramatically over the past several decades. Evidently it can be seen that autism is a pressing issue of public health.

Although autism is not rare, many South Asians have not been adequately diagnosed with this disorder. Consequently, a large proportion of South Asians are not receiving the medical services necessary to cope with autism.

It is essential to create a pathway for policy makers and health professionals to: (a) develop a better understanding of the unique health needs of South Asians diagnosed with autism [based on their specific socio-demographic and background variables]; (b) identify existing access to care barriers; and (c) formulate and implement community support service programs to reduce access barriers, thereby increasing access to/utilization of quality medical care and services.

Autism awareness needs to be generated to address these issues; and, as Miss Malini put it, ‘a very good way to do that is to have a celebrity face’.

Salman Khan, a renowned Indian film actor, has recently become the face of autism in India. The actor been quoted saying, ‘Autism is not disease, it is a disorder and can happen to anyone irrespective of class, creed, nationality and gender. Autism exists all over the world. Autism is a lifelong condition. But no matter what age, people with autism can improve’. Khan has created a new campaign through his registered charitable trust, Being Human, to spread awareness about autism in kids.

The NYU Health Prevention Research Center: Project RICE

The NYU Health Prevention Research Center is a member of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) network of Prevention Research Centers, which brings academic researchers, community members, and public health agencies together to conduct prevention research and promote the wide use of practices proven to promote good health.

The mission of the NYU Health Prevention Research Center is to implement a community health worker (CHW) model approach in diverse communities to build community capacity & leadership for cardiovascular health promotion and disease prevention.

The following are goals of the NYU Health Prevention Research Center:

1. Create an integrated campus-community infrastructure

2. Implement innovative strategies to promote capacity building and leadership models

3. Develop and implement training programs that build capacity to conduct community based health promotion research and activities

4. Evaluate the use of community health workers to promote health in Asian American communities

5. Develop and influence health policy

The NYU Health Prevention Research Center’s key research focus is to test the efficacy and feasibility of CHW interventions in building community capacity and leadership for health promotion and disease prevention.

Currently the core research project being conducted by the NYU Health Prevention Research Center is Project RICE (Reaching Immigrants through Community Empowerment), which will develop, implement, and test a CHW program designed to promote diabetes prevention among Korean Americans and South Asian Americans in New York City.

Teen Pregnancy in the United States & India

The rate of infant births to teenage mothers in the U.S. has been on the decline since 2009. The CDC reports that in 2009, the number of births to teenage mothers was 409,840 — a birth rate of 39.1 per 1,000 women aged 15 to 19. The latest United Nations Human Development Report shows that the teen birth rates in India are quite similar to those in the U.S. However, as Tripti Lahiri reports, “because of India’s huge population, the country probably has, in absolute numbers, more teen mothers than almost anywhere else in the world — a rough calculation would put the figure at about five million”.

Katherine Hobson, a blogger from the Wall Street Journal, reports that although teen birth rates in the U.S. have been been on the decline, they are still higher than in other developed countries. This disparity among teenagers in the United States and teens in other Western industrialized countries is attributed to differences in contraceptive use. According to Heather Boonstra (2002), “sexually active teens in the United States are less likely to use any contraceptive method and especially less likely to use highly effective hormonal methods, primarily the pill, than their peers in other countries” (p. 3). Boonstra’s findings have been confirmed by the results from the CDC’s survey amongst 9,844 mothers aged 15 to 19 in 19 states over the course of five years which was conducted to assess if they were using any form of birth control at the time of conception.

Data from the CDC’s survey shows that about half of teen moms who got pregnant unintentionally weren’t using any form of birth control at the time of conception. The following statistics provide an explanation as to why these adolescent women were not using any form of contraception:

1. 31% said they didn’t think they could get pregnant at the time

2. 24% said their partner didn’t want to use birth control” for personal reasons

3. 22% said that they were ambivalent towards pregnancy

4. 13% said it was hard to access contraceptives. Difficulty in accessing contraceptives includes inability to pay.

5. 9% said they experienced side effects from contraceptives they had taken before

6. 8% said they believed either they or a partner was sterile

Furthermore, information gathered by the CDC’s survey demonstrates that half the teen moms were using birth control when they unintentionally got pregnant. Inconsistent or mis-use of their choice contraception resulted in pregnancy. The following statistics provide insight as to which forms of contraception adolescent women were utilizing:

1. 21% were using a highly effective method, including sterilization, IUD, the birth control pill, and a hormonal injection, patch or ring

2. 24% were using condoms, considered to be moderately effective

3. 5% used methods deemed the least effective, including the diaphragm, sponge, cervical cap, rhythm method and withdrawal

As expressed by the CDC’s report, contraceptive use among sexually active teens can be improved by providing appropriate access to contraception and encouraging consistent use of more effective contraceptives. In order to advance the current downward trend in teen pregnancy, change must be implemented, practiced, and maintained on multiple levels. The government, health care providers, communities, parents, guardians and caregivers, and teens all play a distinct role in preventing teen pregnancy from occurring in the United States.