UCT research team contributes to Lancet Commission on the future of care and clinical research in autism

Prof Petrus de Vries, from the Department of Psychiatry and Mental Health at the University of Cape Town (UCT), was a co-author on the influential Lancet Commission on autism that was published on 6 December 2021. The document outlined an ambitious and positive agenda for care and clinical research in the next 5 years.

Prof de Vries said “it was a wonderful opportunity to be asked by Prof Catherine Lord, the lead commissioner, to join the team of autism experts from all over the world. We worked very hard between 2018 and the ultimate publication of the report in December 2021 and learnt a huge amount from one another!” Prof de Vries was particularly pleased that the Commission emphasized the vast needs of people who live in low- and middle-income countries, such as South Africa. “Many people don’t realize that close to 95% of people with autism live in poor countries around the world, and not in the USA, UK or Europe. This means that one of our key challenges in the next 5 years is to think how to expand research to understand and meet the needs of the culturally and linguistically diverse autism communities across the globe.”

At UCT, Prof de Vries leads the Centre for Autism Research in Africa (www.cara.uct.ac.za), a highly interdisciplinary research group with a specific interest in people who live with autism and related neurodevelopmental and mental health disorders in Africa. “It was very rewarding to see that publications from a number of team members were included in the Lancet Commission. I take that as evidence of the global significance of our research!”, Prof de Vries said. The document can be accessed here.