About 5% of Pakistan’s population are carriers of the illness,
LAHORE: The World Thalassaemia Day was observed on May 8th. Thalassaemia is an autosomal recessive blood disorder. It weakens and destructs the red blood cells, affects the formation of haemoglobin in the body and causes mild or severe anaemia.
The day is marked to increase awareness about the disease, develop the most effective measure to control it, motivate and encourage people, especially the youth, to donate blood to patients, and take pre-marriage test for thalassaemia.
In 2013, 280 million people were diagnosed with thalassaemia. It resulted in 16,800 deaths in 2015. About 5 per cent of Pakistan’s population are carriers of the illness, some 5,000 children are born with thalassaemia major each year and more than an estimated 100,000 patients require monthly blood transfusions. But despite such numbers our Health Ministry has done nothing to curb it.
Dr Zeeshan Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, May 10th, 2017.
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