Creating awareness: World Thalassemia Day today

Thalassemia is a hereditary blood disorder that prevents the production of haemoglobin, leaving the patient anaemic.

LAHORE: Acquiring a Thalassemia free certificate before getting married should be made mandatory in order to prevent the disease, said National Assembly Speaker Sardar Ayaz Sadiq.

“I will try my best to do something about it,” he said while speaking at a programme organised by the Sundus Foundation in connection with World Thalassemia Day being observed on May 8 across the globe.

Thalassemia is a hereditary blood disorder that prevents the production of haemoglobin — the protein in red blood cells which carries oxygen to all parts of the body — leaving the patient anaemic. Therefore, anyone afflicted with the disorder needs regular red blood cell-infusions.

A senior physician and consultant Dr Ahmed Waheed said “It is a genetic blood disorder in which children cannot make enough Red Blood Cells (RBC) and need to be supplemented with RBC transfusions every 2-3 weeks to survive and stay healthy,” he said.

He added around 100,000 babies are born with severe forms of thalassemia each year worldwide. The blood disorder occurs most frequently in people of Italian, Greek, Middle Eastern, Southern Asian and African ancestry.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 8^th, 2017.