Governor of Sindh Dr Ishratul Ebad Khan promulgated the Sindh Prevention and Control of Thalassemia Ordinance, 2013 at a ceremony held at the Governor House on International Thalassemia Day. This was stated by Mehmood Yousuf Mandviwalla, Minister of Law who also said that the Ordinance will prevent the spread of this dangerous disease in a large number of children.
This is the first time in Pakistan that such a law has been promulgated. Thalassemia is a disease caused by the weakening and destruction of red blood cells and can be the cause of significant complications, including pneumonia, iron overload, bone deformities and cardiovascular illness.
Mandviwalla further stated that the Caretaker Chief Minister former Justice Zahid Kurban Alavi had taken special interest in this law as there was an urgent need to regulate and control the thalassemia disease to save precious lives of children and hence it was considered expedient to promulgate the Ordinance.
The Ordinance also requires that proper care is taken of patients who have fallen victim of this disease. The Ordinance will help introduce programmes with information to the public concerning the nature of the disease, its consequences to the child and the methods of prevention especially the need to know of the risk early. The Minister further said that the law will also help in screening the population through simple blood tests, to identify the carriers.-PR