Speakers at a seminar on Sunday urged the Prime Minister Imran Khan to declare 2019 the Thalassemia awareness campaign year. The Help International Welfare Trust (HIWT) in collaboration with the Memon Professional Forum (MPF) organised the event at Rangoonwala Hall. "Federal and all provincial governments must declare 2019 as the year of Thalassemia-free Pakistan campaign on government level," HIWT chairman Abdul Rauf Tabani proposed.
Speaking at the seminar, he urged the business community to come forward and play active role in eradication of the complex disease to make Pakistan a thalassemia-free country. Rasheed Godil, ex-MNA from MQM and Karachi Bar Association's former president Naeem Qureshi also spoke. They called for mass awareness campaigns on various epidemic diseases besides the Thalassemia, so that such complex diseases could be controlled and precious human lives could be protected. They said due to illiteracy, the masses are unaware of diseases and as result of that a number of people particularly children are suffering from the very disease. Majority of them lack treatment facilities at their doorstep.
WMO president Abdul Raheem Jano said that women can play an important role to control the Thalassemia because an aware mother can provide awareness among the entire family members. WMO general secretary Shoaib Ismail emphasized that the thalassemia children can also lead a normal life, if society ensures them with facilities as per their needs. "We can increase the community services to provide maximum facilities to the patients," he said. He asked the traders to launch a countrywide awareness campaign to sensitize the masses on the thalassemia issue.