‘Outdated methods, high costs for alternates affecting haemophilia patients’

Karachi
To this day, hundreds of young haemophilia patients run the risk of acquiring potentially deadly infections such as HIV/Aids, Hepatitis B and C, and syphilis due to the continuing dependence on transfusion of unscreened Fresh Frozen Plasma (FFP), an obsolete treatment method known to often give rise to serious complications for patients.
“Haemophilia is a genetic blood disorder that reduces a patient’s clotting abilities, so even a minor injury can cause excessive blood loss. The encouraging fact is that effective treatments for the condition are known but, for that, patients need to consult qualified and trained haematologists,” said Dr Saqib Ansari, a leading haematologist, at an event held this past week to mark World Haemophilia Day, “Haemophilia can be treated using injections of factors VIII and IX, a method known to be a safe and viable mode of treatment.”
The persisting use of FFP transfusion, he added, was largely down to the lack of awareness among doctors and the medical fraternity. In this regard, he spoke about the need for a comprehensive database of haemophilia and other blood diseases, asserting that the lack of initiatives to this end were testament to the minimal importance given to such diseases by policy makers.
“Unfortunately, many blood banks and laboratories are not functioning as per set standards and are openly providing unscreened blood and its components,” he said.
However, another reason identified by Dr Ansari was the high cost of the factor injections.
“The high price makes this treatment option inaccessible for most patients, which is all the more unfortunate since it remains the safest and most reliable treatment method for this blood disorder,” said Dr Ansari.
The senior haematologist did more than just identify the problems as he also proposed potentially viable solutions. “I want to urge all philanthropists, multinational companies, local industrialists, banks and other organisations to come forward and help in this regard,” he said.
“We all can work together to create a collective financial pool for the purchase of the injections. Such an effort can go a long way in helping us save many precious lives.”