About 45 percent of the haemophiliacs suffer from various dental problems due to lack of proper care and education. This was discussed at an awareness workshop on the 'Psychosocial Issues which the Patients of Haemophilia and their Families Face' held here on Saturday.
Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims) in collaboration with Pakistan Haemophilia Welfare Society (PHWS) and Novo Nordisk Haemophilia Foundation (NNHF) organised the workshop. The workshop was the part of a series of six workshops planned under the Haemophilia Education Project (HEP) launched in February this year.
Zamurad Khan, MD, Pakistan Baitul Mal, was the chief guest and Dr Fareed Minhas, Professor of Psychiatry, Rawalpindi Medical College was the guest of honour. Psychiatrists, Haematologists from various hospitals of Rawalpindi and Islamabad along with Haemophilia patients and their parents attended the workshop. Speaking on the occasion the medical experts said that Haemophilia is a life long illness affecting the patients and their families psychological and socially, which is usually neglected during the course of treatment.
Addressing the participants Dr Tahira Zafar, medical adviser to PHPWS, said that these problems have a negative effect on the lives of patients and their families. She highlighted how the change in attitude of patients and their parents can help in handling the problem. She further said that PHPWS, Rawalpindi chapter, was established in 2000 and has played a major role in improving care of patients with bleeding disorders.
Yasmin Ehsan, project facilitator told the participants about the methodology to handle the patients with this disease. Some skits prepared by the doctors demonstrated attitude of parents, doctors and teachers towards haemophiliacs for making him/her a productive individual.
She further informed the participants that the first workshop of this series was provided basic information on haemophilia and doable home care skills. The second discussed joint problems and resulting disabilities due to continuous internal bleeding and the need for specific exercises and physiotherapy to overcome joint disabilities.
The aim of the third workshop was to provide knowledge and create awareness among participants about dental problems which, an haemophilia patient can face and how to handle dental bleeds at home. The theme of the fourth workshop was women with bleeding disorders and their problems. Zamurad Khan assured his full support to the patients of haemophilia, saying that haemophilia is a disease which is unknown to most of the people and the patients were neglected.
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