![[Pakistan] Eight-year-old Minaal receives her regular blood transfusion at the Fatimid Centre, Lahore, Pakistan, January 2007. Minaal is one of thousands of children across Pakistan who suffers from thalassaemia, an inherited blood disorder.](https://assets.thenewhumanitarian.org/s3fs-public/styles/responsive_large_2x/public/images/20071293.jpg.webp?itok=knBLtsmF "Government aid for thalassaemia patients in Sindh Province")
The Pakistani government has agreed to provide a grant of 50 million Pakistani rupees (about US$621,000) for the treatment of 2,400 patients in Sindh Province suffering from a blood disorder called thalassaemia, Health Minister Mir Aijaz Hussain Jakhrani has said.
According to the Thalassaemia Society of Pakistan, thalassaemia is an inherited blood disorder leading to the inability of the body to produce adequate amounts of haemoglobin in red blood cells. The result is severe anaemia.
Some 8-10 million people in Pakistan suffer from thalassaemia, according to the National Institute of Blood Diseases and Bone Marrow Transplantation (NIBD). “A man and woman [who suffer from or carry traits of thalassaemia] are more likely to give birth to a thalassaemic child if they marry,” said NIBD’s Tahir Sultan Shamsi.
Children suffering from this blood disorder traditionally required a blood transfusion every month of their lives in addition to treatment for iron overload due to the excessive number of transfusions.
But a new treatment, oral chelation therapy, which removes iron from the body, offers new hope.
“Conventional iron chelation [an intravenous therapy] is a very tedious and cumbersome process for a child suffering from thalassaemia as it requires12 hours of continuous infusion to remove iron. [But] the oral iron chelation process is simple,” Jakhrani said addressing a seminar at Civil Hospital Karachi’s Thalassaemia Cancer Centre.
The new government money will be used to expand services, including oral chelation therapy, to remote areas of the impoverished province: Over 2,400 thalassaemia patients should be able to get help from at least four new transfusion centres.
The NIBD has urged the government to pass legislation requiring compulsory thalassaemia tests for couples before marriage in order to control the disease.
The situation is aggravated by the practice of consanguine marriage (marriage between cousins), deeply rooted in most communities in the area. Meanwhile, Darul Aloom, a seminary in Karachi, has issued a `fatwa’ (religious ruling) setting out that thalassaemia tests on a pregnant woman and her foetus can be carried out, and the woman can undergo abortion if the test indicates thalassaemia in the foetus.
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According to the Thalassaemia Society of Pakistan, thalassaemia is an inherited blood disorder leading to the inability of the body to produce adequate amounts of haemoglobin in red blood cells. The result is severe anaemia.
Some 8-10 million people in Pakistan suffer from thalassaemia, according to the National Institute of Blood Diseases and Bone Marrow Transplantation (NIBD). “A man and woman [who suffer from or carry traits of thalassaemia] are more likely to give birth to a thalassaemic child if they marry,” said NIBD’s Tahir Sultan Shamsi.
Children suffering from this blood disorder traditionally required a blood transfusion every month of their lives in addition to treatment for iron overload due to the excessive number of transfusions.
But a new treatment, oral chelation therapy, which removes iron from the body, offers new hope.
“Conventional iron chelation [an intravenous therapy] is a very tedious and cumbersome process for a child suffering from thalassaemia as it requires12 hours of continuous infusion to remove iron. [But] the oral iron chelation process is simple,” Jakhrani said addressing a seminar at Civil Hospital Karachi’s Thalassaemia Cancer Centre.
The new government money will be used to expand services, including oral chelation therapy, to remote areas of the impoverished province: Over 2,400 thalassaemia patients should be able to get help from at least four new transfusion centres.
The NIBD has urged the government to pass legislation requiring compulsory thalassaemia tests for couples before marriage in order to control the disease.
The situation is aggravated by the practice of consanguine marriage (marriage between cousins), deeply rooted in most communities in the area. Meanwhile, Darul Aloom, a seminary in Karachi, has issued a `fatwa’ (religious ruling) setting out that thalassaemia tests on a pregnant woman and her foetus can be carried out, and the woman can undergo abortion if the test indicates thalassaemia in the foetus.
sj/at/cb
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions
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