Preemptive measures: Prenatal screening for thalassemia in the works

HMC pathology head says facility will be first of its kind in K-P.


Umer Farooq March 16, 2015
HMC Chief Executive Professor Dr Mumtaz Ali Marwat stated the hospital management had extended its complete support to the pathology department. STOCK IMAGE

PESHAWAR: Parents in the provincial capital will soon be able to determine whether their unborn babies have thalassemia major via Chorionic Villus Sampling (CVS).

This was stated by Hayatabad Medical Complex Pathology Department Head Dr Shahtaj Khan on Monday. She told The Express Tribune CVS would be available within a year at Al-Khidmat Hospital in Peshawar and would be a collaborative effort with the National Institute of Blood Diseases (NIBD) in Karachi.



According to www.thalassemia.ca, “thalassemia major occurs when a child inherits two mutated genes, one from each parent.” These children “develop symptoms of severe anemia….and may also fail to thrive.” The CVS which tests the genetic material in the placenta, identical to the foetal cells, can help determine genetic or chromosomal issues such as thalassemia or Down syndrome.

Khan said parents are compelled to travel to Rawalpindi, the nearest place where the screening facility is available.  She said 5 to 7% of the country’s population are carriers. When both parents are carriers—have thalassemia minor—there is a one in four chance their child will have thalassemia major.  The doctor added the strip from Swabi, Charsadda and Peshawar up to Karak had a large number of carriers of the disease.

“The ideal time to conduct CVS is 10-12 weeks [into the pregnancy],” Khan said.  The pathology department head stated according to Mufti Taqi Usmani, an Islamic scholar, a foetus up to 17 weeks can be aborted.

Khan shared Dr Tahir Shamsi and Dr Saqib Ansari from NIBD would be working on the project with assistance from Alkhidmat Foundation. She said the CVS facility in Peshawar would be made possible by a public-private partnership with donations mainly from Gulf countries.

“This [facility] will be the first of its kind in K-P. Once operational, people will be able to conduct tests in the provincial capital,” Khan stated. She said the total number of thalassemia carriers in the country was between seven and 11 million, but only 21,000 of them had been registered across the country. She added around 5,000 patients were being registered on an annual basis, while 395 patients were admitted at HMC.

Earlier on Monday at a symposium on thalassemia, doctors from across the country said patients should be encouraged to perform recreational and physical activities. They also suggested that clinic and transfusion timings be made flexible, adding that routine monitoring and dental care were essential for a thalassemia patient

During his address, Dr Tahir Shamsi stated the total number of registered and unregistered thalassemia patients in the country was around 0.1million. He said the treatment of those affected was costing around Rs1billion a year.

HMC Chief Executive Professor Dr Mumtaz Ali Marwat stated the hospital management had extended its complete support to the pathology department.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 17th, 2015.

 

COMMENTS (1)

Abdul Hameed junejo | 9 years ago | Reply Dear Dr Shahtaj Khan, that is very good effort you are taking regarding prevention of thalassaemia. The parents belonging to Afghanistan may also get this service, which are compel to travel Rawalpindi also. You may contact with Dr. Suhaib Ahmed, Genetic Resource Lab, Rawalpindi, for establishing microbiology lab, he is manufacturing the lab machines for PCR which are available at very low price and the result is equal to the very expensive machines. He is very kind of nature and committed person, may help to trained you for procedure of CVS.
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