The World Thalassemia Day-2017 with the theme 'Together for Humanity' was marked here on Monday with a renewed pledge to make all out efforts for raising awareness among people about the lethal disease and to check its spread. To mark the day, walks, seminars and other activities were held in Lahore like other parts of the country and rest of the world.
Speakers in these functions highlighted that thalassemia is a blood disease which is inherited from parents, especially when both are carriers of the defective gene. Recent reports point out that a large number of children, who suffer from the disease, die before the age of 20 due to the lack of treatment. There are three main types of Thalassemia: Alpha, Beta and Haemoglobin E (HbE).
They said thalassemia is a fatal disease and the patients suffering from this disease need regular blood transfusions. Thus, thalassemia patients deserve special attention of society. They said that preventive measures were essential and there was a need for effective awareness campaign to prevent from this disease. In order to defeat thalassemia, continued efforts were required to take effective steps for the provision of best medical facilities to thalassemia patients, they said.
Punjab Minister for Specialized Healthcare & Medical Education Khawaja Salman Rafique while addressing awareness seminar organised by the Punjab Thalassemia Prevention Programme (PTPP) at Fatima Jinnah Medical University (FJMU) said the PTPP has been expanded and now the programme is covering all the 36 districts of the province where services for screening/identification of thalassemia carriers are being carried out and so far 100,000 people belonging to 3,232 thalassemic families have been screened out.
Pro-vice chancellor FJMU Professor Dr Aamir Zaman Khan, Director PTPP Dr Shabnam Bashir, MS. Sir Ganga Ram Hospital Dr Nauman Matloob, Professor Javeria Manan, Professor Tasneem Raza and a large number of doctors, nurses and medical students attended the seminar.
Dr Shabnam Bashir informed that training programmes have also been launched for doctors and nurses from the platform of PTPP. She informed that PTPP is carrying awareness campaigns, pre-natal diagnostic facilities, genetic counseling, pre-marital and general population screening is also being done under this programme.
She informed that four regional centers are working and field staff deputed on the centers visits door to door for collecting blood samples which have been sent to the central DNA test lab in Lahore through courier where diagnostic facility for pre-natal identification is provided. She said that DNA test costs Rs 30 to 35 thousand but this facility is being provided to the people free of cost.
Dr Shabnam Bashir disclosed that request from KPK has been received for providing assistance to launch thalassemia prevention programme in KPK on the pattern of PTPP. She said that planning has been done to establish such labs at all the divisional headquarters in the next fiscal year.
She said that World Health Organization appreciated the efforts and services of Punjab Thalassemia Prevention Programme. Salman Rafique further said that scope of PTPP has been expanded therefore work is being done to convert this programme into an authority to cater the needs of the people. Moreover, consultation for legislation with the law department is underway to make the thalassemia test mandatory for the couples before marriage. For this purpose, draft bill is being prepared which would be tabled in the Punjab Assembly very soon.