A review meeting of Punjab Thalassemia Prevention Programme (PTPP) was held here at Fatima Jinnah Medical University (FJMU) Lahore, here on Friday under the chairmanship of Khawaja Salman Rafique, Advisor Health Punjab. The meeting was attended by Jawwad Rafique, Secretary Health Punjab, Professor Dr Sardar Fakhar Imam, Vice Chancellor FJMU, Dr Shabnam Bashir, PTPP project director and other staff members of the of PTPP and FJMU.
The meeting started with a presentation on the progress of the project by Dr Shabnam Bashir, PTPP Project Director. She informed that the project has been revamped in the last three months. PTPP regional labs have been established and functional at all the four regional centres of PTPP at Multan, Bawahwalpur, Rawalpindi and Lahore and are providing the services of carrier screening and Hb electrophoresis. The service of prenatal diagnosis through Chorionic Villus Sampling has been initiated at Sir Ganga Ram Hospital, Lahore and Holy Family Hospital, Rawalpindi. This service is being extended to Multan and Bahawalpur as well. It is pertinent to mention that after the hiring of the project staff, DNA analysis has also been initiated by the project lab. It is a big achievement as this is the first lab in the public sector offering DNA analysis for prenatal diagnosis and carrier screening of Thalassaemia. In the last three months the PTPP lab has also provided the thalassemia carrier screening to more than 7000 individuals.
A mother of a Thalassemic child also provided parents point of view and said that PTPP is an excellent service by the Punjab government which must be extended to all the districts of Punjab. She said that the government should also provide free optimal treatment services to Thalasemics families. Yasin Khan, President Sundas Foundation requested Advisor Health to facilitate in getting free medicines for Thalassemics through Bait-ul-Mal.
While speaking on the occasion, Khawaja Salman Rafique appreciated the efforts made by the new management of PTPP and revamping of the project. He added that the Punjab government under the leadership of CM Shahbaz Sharif is providing best health services to the people of Punjab.
He instructed that the project scope should be extended to establish a comprehensive Thalassemia programme that should provide state-of-the-art Thalassemia treatment, prevention and other related services under one roof. It was decided to organise a workshop of patients, parents and healthcare providers on 30th Nov 2015 to discuss and finalise recommendations for developing the abovementioned comprehensive Thalassemia programme. The workshop will also be attended by a delegation of Thalassemia International Federation from England and Cyprus.