Executive Director of Afzaal Memorial Thalassemia Foundation (AMTF), Ateeq Ur Rehman, has urged the provincial chief ministers to introduce legislation in their respective provinces for mandatory blood screening for thalassemia before marriage to save the masses from this deadly and fatal disease. He praising the Senate's joint committee meeting on the draft Premarital Blood Screening (Family Laws Amendment) Bill, 2016, regarding the blood screening for Thalassemia.
"It is quite encouraging that the senate's joint committee on law, justice, religious affairs and interfaith harmony asked the ministry of law, ministry of health services, ministry of human rights and the ministry of religious affairs to sit together and prepare a harmonised draft on mandatory blood screening pre-marriage for thalassemia," he said. He urged the senators of the relevant committees to ensure that the scope of the bill should be limited to thalassemia so that the practicality of the blood screening is made easy.
The other diseases can be included in the bill at later stages. He said the intention of the bill should be to spread awareness and stop chances of Thalassemia major, a disease which has no permanent treatment except that it requires blood transfusion every month and permanent usage of life-saving medicines. Affected couple should be bared from marrying in case of positive results of Thalassemia minor in both partners.