President Dr Arif Alvi has said raising awareness about Thalassaemia and its prevention through screening of individuals before marriage could prove helpful in reducing chances of its transmission to the next generation.
Addressing at the inauguration of Bone Marrow Transplant Centre under the Pakistan Thalassaemia Welfare Society he said premarital screening could act as a supportive step in controlling the life-threatening blood disorder.
He lauded doctors at the Bone Marrow Transplant Centre volunteering their services for the Thalassaemia patients and also acknowledged donors and philanthropists for financially supporting the costly treatment.
On the legislation regarding organ donation, he stressed that a set of commonly adopted recommendations by the medical community could be more effective and helpful for the government in taking a course on the important matter.
The president highlighted the importance of a preventive approach in controlling several other diseases such as diabetes through a balanced diet, hepatitis by means of single-use syringes and even COVID-19 through frequent handwashing.
President PATHWEL Maj. Gen. (retd) Suhaib Ahmed said Thalassaemia is an inherited blood disorder characterized by decreased production of haemoglobin and thus needed a regular blood transfusion from a healthy person.
He said the Bone Marrow Transplant Centre, the first such facility in the non-governmental sector, was a significant development in a country where nearly 10 percent of families were Thallasaemia carriers.
He mentioned that 35 percent of the total blood donation in the country was being utilized by child Thalassaemic patients.
He said Bone Marrow Transplant Centre would provide free-of-cost transplant services to the patients besides its future plan of setting up a molecular laboratory and indoor haematology ward.
