Five to seven percent of Pakistan’s population is suffering from thalassemia, most of whom are children. Photo: The Express Tribune
Karachi: Experts of blood and hereditary diseases have said that 5 to 7 percent of the population in Pakistan is suffering from hereditary diseases like thalassemia.
Experts said that every year more than 5 thousand children are born with this disease in the country and 9 thousand people of thalassemia are registered in Sindh.
These views were expressed by the Secretary of Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority (SBTA) Dr Darnazjamal while talking to Express News. May 8 is celebrated as World Thalassemia Day in which various awareness programs are organized.
The purpose of this important day is public awareness to get couples tested for thalassemia before marriage. Medical experts recommend Hb electrophoresis test to every couple before marriage. Private medical centers charge Rs 1500 to 3000 for this test whereas if both persons (husband and wife) are suffering from thalassemia (menaria major) Chorionic villus sampling (CVS) during the first 10 to 13 weeks of pregnancy. The test is conducted which costs 15 to 20 thousand.
Dr. Naz Jamal said that there are 26 thalassemia centers across Sindh that are registered with the Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority. The number of thalassemia patients in these health centers is 9,525, including a large number of children. are
According to a conservative estimate, 5 to 7 percent of Pakistan’s population is affected by thalassemia, 16 thalassemia centers run with Rs 221.5 million allocated by the Sindh Health Department and the Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority. Dr Dir Naz said that a summary has been sent to Sindh Chief Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah for the budget of the remaining thalassemia centers and it is hoped that it will be approved soon.
He said that in the past there were seven thousand patients of thalassemia, but in the last two and a half years, this number has increased tremendously. However, now the reporting of thalassemia patients has improved. Earlier, many cases of children were treated at home due to weakness.
According to Darnaz, last year, his organization had screened the registered children affected by thalassemia for HIV, hepatitis B and hepatitis C and the children who received negative reports, we had vaccinated them against these diseases. In the month of August this year, a healthy activity will be organized at Moin Khan Academy for Thalassemia and Hemophilia children.
(function(d, s, id){
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.3&appId=770767426360150”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));
(function(d, s, id) {
var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];
if (d.getElementById(id)) return;
js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;
js.src = “//connect.facebook.net/en_GB/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v2.7”;
fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);
}(document, ‘script’, ‘facebook-jssdk’));