Acute blood shortage imperils lives of thousands of Thalassemia patients

Islamabad:The Jamila Sultana Foundation (JSF) has appealed to the government to announce immediate measures to save the lives of thousands of Thalassemia patients who are at risk of dying due to non-availability of blood supplies in the wake of restrictions imposed to curtail the spread of Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Pakistan.

Talking to ‘The News’ here on Monday, JSF’s Project Director Syed Tauqir Abbas urged the Federal and Provincial Ministers of Health Dr. Zafar Mirza and Dr. Yasmeen Rashid respectively, to allow some kind of relaxation to organizations that rely on blood donations to meet the transfusion needs of Thalassemia patients. While the spread of COVID-19 has stolen the health authorities’ attention from all other pressing health issues, the predicament facing Thalassemia patients certainly one that cannot remain unattended.

“Pakistan has over 100,000 Thalassemia patients, each requiring 3 to 4 pints of fresh blood per month. Students are our primary donors but due to closure of educational institutions, we are no longer able to hold blood donation camps, resulting in severe shortages. Imagine how acute the crisis will get in case of a countrywide lockdown—there is no way we can ensure uninterrupted supply of blood,” the representative flagged, urging the public to voluntarily donate blood and save lives. “We need your support more than ever.

Our office will remain open 24/7 on all weekdays for walk-in donors; however, since the public has been advised to practice social distancing, we can dispatch the JSF mobile team to collect blood at your doorstep,” he said, warning of a deteriorating situation with every passing moment. The JSF representative also drew attention to shortage of Desferol Injection—the only lifesaving drug for Thalassemia patients.

“This drug by Novartis Pharma is not available for a month now and persistent shortage will imperil the lives of these patients. Being the sole distributor, Novartis needs to ensure seamless supply so that precious lives can be saved,” he appealed, adding, “the government too needs to take steps on war footing to streamline supplies. He pointed out that the market price of the Rs. 300 injection has been raised to Rs. 3,000 and yet it is hard to find.

“We, as a nation, are passing through a critical time no doubt, but we cannot ignore patients whose very survival is at stake. I am sure we can overcome the crisis with the assistance of our people and the government,” the JSF representative stated.

Founded in 2004, JSF has its own blood bank/laboratory, which is working round the clock since December 2005 under license by the Punjab Blood Bank Authority. It is dealing in the treatment and prevention of Thalassaemia, which requires continuous supply of blood and iron chelating medicine, which it provides free of cost to patients.

The Center has provisions for carrying out transfusion of 30 patients simultaneously every day under the supervision of a friendly doctors and staff in a pleasant environment for small children, who constitute the majority of the patients.

Apart from providing treatment to the existing Thalassaemics, JSF is also working to prevent the transmission of the genetic blood disorder in the future generations in a bid to achieve its complete eradication in the future. JSF is affiliated with International Thalassemia Federation and registered with the Thalassemia Federation of Pakistan.