Prevention of mental handicap in developing countries.

The Commonwealth Association for Mental Handicap and Developmental Disabilities held a workshop on 'Prevention of mental handicap-what is possible in developing countries?' in Bombay in March 1985.The workshop was attended by 40 invited participants from many parts of the world, both from developed and developing countries.During the two days various prenatal, perinatal, and postnatal problems were discussed to provide prac- tical suggestions suitable for implementation in developing countries.The workshop recognised that the exact size of this problem and the causes of mental retardation in developing countries are not known.It was thought that the Commonwealth Association should there- fore initiate some studies on the prevalence and causes of mental retardation with a view to promot- ing practical programmes of prevention.It was agreed that such studies should be carried out in conjunction with community based rehabilitation programmes.The workshop made the following major recom- mendations.