The ratio of therapists to population in Macau is “obviously” low, and even if the city’s number of speech therapists were twofold, it still wouldn’t meet the demand of children with special needs, Wong Soi Tou, director of the government’s Joint Centre for Paediatric Rehabilitation, said during a radio phone-in programme hosted by government-owned broadcaster TDM yesterday.
Wong gave the picture in numbers. According to Wong, there are a total of 126 registered therapists in Macau, including 85 occupational therapists and 25 speech therapists.
He explained the current predicament by comparing figures in Macau with other places.
In the US and Europe, the ratio of population to occupational therapists ranges from between 1,000-1 and 3,000-1, while in Hong Kong it stands at 3,800-1, but in Macau the ratio amounts to 6,200-1, according to Wong.
