(VOVworld)- The World Autism Awareness Day 2016 was celebrated across the world on 2 April 2016. The 2016 theme for the day is Autism and the 2030 Agenda: Inclusion and Neurodiversity. With this theme, UN Chief Ban Ki Moon emphasized that people with autism have the right to employment. He called on countries around the world to keep their promise of leaving no one behind.

A medical worker from the National Hospital of Pediatrics tends to a child with autism (Photo: VNA)

To mark the occasion, hundreds of children with autism in Hanoi participated in a Friendly Sports festival. According to the network of people with autism in Vietnam, there are about 200,000 people with autism in Vietnam and the figure is likely to increase.

On Friday, the Vietnam Network of People with Autism and the Asia Pacific Development Center on Disability held a workshop on the situation and challenges of autism in Vietnam. In her address, Head of the Network Hoang Ngoc Bich said: “Like 7.2 million people with disabilities in Vietnam, people with autism don’t need us to represent them to call for sympathy. We believe that people with autism and people with disabilities have the right to an equal life and to be respected. We want to convey a message that: “Understand, love and share with people with autism so we can have a happy life”.