Genetic diseases: ‘Law needed to make pre-marriage blood test mandatory’

Rafiq calls for educating people about blood-related diseases.

LAHORE: Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khwaja Salman Rafiq said on Sunday legislation regarding pre-marriage blood test was vital for controlling blood-related diseases such as thalassemia and hemophilia.

He was speaking at a seminar on World Hemophilia Day at Sundas Foundation. Sundas Foundation Patron-in-Chief Munnu Bhai, President Yasin Khan and Jamia Ashrafia administrator Hafiz Asad Ubaid also attended the seminar.

Rafiq urged against marriages between carriers of thalassemia so that the disease was not transferred to the next generation. He stressed the need for a mass awareness campaign to fight the disease. He praised Sundas Foundation for its efforts for the prevention and treatment of blood diseases.

“The government is working on a disease-prevention programme. However, the civil society, NGOs and philanthropists should also play their role in this regard.”

The adviser praised the media for educating people about the prevention of diseases.

Munnu Bhai said that serving the ailing humanity was no less than worship. He praised the provincial government for upgrading health service infrastructure in the Punjab.

Health experts informed the participants that hemophilia was a genetic and congenital disease affecting blood coagulation. As a result, they said, minor injuries started bleeding and some time internal organs bled without even any injury. They said that this happened due to insufficient production of white cells. The participants were informed that around 20,000 people were affected by hemophilia in Pakistan.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 18^th,  2016.