Thalassaemia and haemophilia: Sindh sets new record with 3,000 blood transfusions

Event to carry out transfusion for 2,000 children was held at Karachi Expo Centre on Friday.

KARACHI:

Sindh has set a new record by carrying out blood transfusions for around 3,000 children suffering from thalassaemia and haemophilia.

The mega event of the blood transfusion for 2,000 children under one-roof was held at the Expo Centre on Friday while 1,000 more children from different areas of the province were given blood in Sukkur, Nawabshah and Badin.

"It is a world record," claimed Peoples Doctors Forum's (PDF) Sindh Chapter president Dr Karim Khuwaja. "It has never happened anywhere that 2,000 children are given blood under one roof," he said, adding that they will be sending the data to the Guinness World Records officials soon.


The PDF celebrated former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's 61st birthday by conducting blood donation campaigns across the province. They managed to collect 28,300 blood bags in three days. The blood was donated to various organisations working for thalassaemia patients while the armed forces have also been donated blood bags by the PDF.

The registered thalassaemia and haemophilia patients of eight organisations, including Hussaini Blood Bank, Muhammadi Blood Bank, Omair Sana Foundation, Afzaal Memorial Thalassaemia Foundation, Burhani Blood Bank and Thalassaemia Centre (BBBTC) and Kutyana Memon Hospital, took part in the mega event on Friday.

"There are around 7,000 children with these blood diseases," shared BBBTC CEO Jawaid Qayam Ali. Children from different parts of the province and some from Balochistan are regularly transfused blood at his centre. "We are committed to serve our children," he said.

According to the organisers, 680 beds were set up for the event. The parents were asked to bring their children to the centre they are registered with, and from there they were brought to the Expo Centre.

"These children won't need blood in Ramazan now," commented Mehdi Rizvi, the CEO of Muhammadi Blood Bank. He said that Iran set a record by transfusing 4,700 children. "This is a major event as 3,000 children were given blood only in Sindh," he said, adding that transfusion costs Rs100,000 per year for every child.

There were several cases where brothers and sisters had major thalassaemia, such as Muhammad Jibran, 15, Muhammad Rahman, 13, and Muhammad Noman, 11. "I don't know why it happened," said their grandmother, Shazia Khan, adding that their father works as a driver. "I think of the expenditures and worry about the donors' arrangements if such organisations weren't there to support people like us," said their uncle, Muhammad Sajjid.

"My mother and father are [suffering from] minor [thalassaemia]," said 17-year-old Shahbaz, who was being transfused. "My older brother and sister are also minors," he added. His older sister was married in December but her fiancé went through a test and found out that he was not suffering from thalassaemia.

Five-year-old Mehwish's younger brother, Muhammad Saeed, also suffers from thalassaemia. "We were not aware of the disease or the process of conducting medical tests," her father, Muhammad Rafique, admitted. "It hurts when she has to go through blood transfusion." Rafique said that one of his daughters died of the blood disease a few years ago.

Learning from their experiences, most parents advised couples to get tested for thalassaemia before getting married. They also advised that screening is better than facing the pain of transfusions for life.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 28^th, 2014.