RAWALPINDI: President, Al-Aqsa Welfare Trust (AAWT), Volunteer Blood Donations Organization, AJK and Pakistan, Muhammad Hamid Khan Edhi here on Sunday urged the people to come forward to donate blood in a bid to help Thalassaemia patients, who need regular blood transfusions to live a normal life.

Talking to APP he informed that over 100,000 thalassaemia major patients exist in the country. However, the exact overall figure of thalassemia patients in the country is not known as no national baseline survey was conducted. There are three types of thalassaemia — minor, major and intermedia.

A person with thalassaemia major suffers from the disease throughout his life while a patient with thalassaemia intermedia can get thalassaemia major any time, he said.

A person afflicted with thalassaemia minor leads a normal life but is a carrier and can pass on the disease to his or her child, he said adding, because of the disease, body stops making red blood cells due to which blood is given to the patients.

The only cure is ‘bone marrow transplant’ which is not only very expensive but also requires a donor.

He informed that the trust also organizes seminars to create awareness among people about the disease.

“A large number of children of Azad Jammu and Kashmir and other far-flung areas travel to Islamabad and Rawalpindi to get blood after spending huge amount. I urge people to keep extending financial support to the organisations working for thalassaemia patients,” he added. He also called on people to get perspective brides and grooms tested for thalassaemia.