By Chen Xia
China.org.cn staff reporter

On the second World Autism Awareness Day, a charity foundation geared to help children with autism and promote public concern over the mental illness was set up in Beijing on April 1.

Contact to donate: Hotline: 86-10-64915691 Fax: 86-10-64913980 E-mail: firefly5678@163.com

Initiated by the China Charity Federation (CCF) and the Wucailu Rehabilitation & Research Center, the China Charity Federation Reindeer Foundation for Autistic Children will dedicate its efforts to helping autistic children and their parents, raising social awareness of the illness, and funding research on the causes of and prevention of the mental disorder.

"The progress of our foundation will depend on the hard work and unremitting efforts of all organizations and individuals that care for autistic children in China," said Sun Menglin, the foundation's executing director. "We will do everything possible to help children suffering from autism to receive a good education and timely support."

Sun Menglin (left), Executing Director of China Charity Federation Reindeer Foundation for Autistic Children, shakes hands with Liu Guolin (right), Secretary General of China Charity Foundation (CCF) at the press conference in Beijing, April 1.

The foundation will adhere to the principle of fairness and transparency, and is willing to accept surveillance from all donors and other sectors of society, promised Liu Baocheng, a member of the managing committee of the foundation.

"On this special occasion, I have nothing to offer but thanks to CCF and Wucailu for their great help and support to me in past years," Wang Yishan, a father with an autistic child, told journalists at the conference.

Autism is a complex mental disorder. Its cause remains a mystery, and to date no effective preventative measures have been discovered. According to the 2003 census of handicapped people in China, autism is the most prevalent of all mental illnesses. Unfortunately, however, the disease is still relatively unknown to the public, and compared with developed countries like the US China still has a long way to go in the research, diagnosis and treatment of autism.