I would like to back Bill Welsh's call (Letters, 17 August) for Scotland's chief medical officer, Mac Armstrong, to make a statement on the epidemic of autism engulfing our country.
 
The price to the public purse for each person with autism has been costed at £2.9 million. A simple calculation suggests the government is looking at a bill of £9,860 million.
 
While the financial cost should worry those that hold the Scottish government's purse strings, the physical and mental costs for those with
autism are often much higher.
 
For years, parents have fought to improve the almost non-existent National Health Service facilities for autistic children. It is soul-destroying when one sees the medical establishment close ranks and completely ig-nore the many problems that our children have.
 
What we need at the top is an ambitious and brave leader who is willing to tackle this serious injustice.

Steven Law, New Star Bank Newtongrange, Midlothian