Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Rashid on Wednesday said that law on pre-marriage Thalassemia test was about to be introduced in the province.
She was speaking at length as chief guest at a workshop organized by the Punjab Thalassemia and other Genetic Disorders Prevention and Research Institute here at Fatima Jinnah Medical University.
The minister said the Punjab government was providing quality healthcare services to Thalassemia patients and bill on pre-marriage Thalassemia test would soon be passed. She said the government was providing services to patients of Thalassemia and other genetic disorders.
She said that a comprehensive program was working on prevention of Thalassemia and diagnostic tests facility was available in all districts.
She said that two carriers of Thalassemia must avoid a marriage.
The minister said that creating awareness about Thalassemia was no less than worship.
“I worked on thalassemia prevention and awareness from 2001 to 2008 dedicatedly and dreamt of a programme for Thalassemia prevention in 1994,” she said.
Appreciating Dr Yasmin Ihsan and Dr Hussain Jaffery for their work on Thalassemia, she said that they made great contribution for the cause. The Pakistan Thalassemia Federation was the first organization that started work on it and collected data initially, she informed. She said that in many countries Thalassemia patients do not even bear children.
She urged the people present in the workshop to must create awareness among people after completion of the workshop.
Speaking on the occasion, Vice Chancellor Fatima Jinnah Medical University Professor Amir
Zaman Khan said Punjab was running the world’s largest Thalassemia program.
DG Punjab Thalassemia and Genetic Disorder Prevention and Research Institute Hussain Jaffery thanked the Health Minister and said field officers were working in all districts for counsellingand awareness.
He said beds had been reserved for Thalassemia patients in all hospitals. Earlier, the DG Punjab Thalassemia Prevention and Genetic Disorders Prevention and Research
Institute elaborated the objectives of the workshop. The Health Minister also gave away shields to CSOs and welfare organizations.
MS Ganga Ram Dr. Athar, Dr. Yasmin Ihsan, Professor Javed Chaudhry and officials of welfare organizations working on Thalassemia prevention attended the workshop.
