‘Legislation on premarital thalassaemia screening’

LAHORE : Punjab Health Minister Dr Yasmin Raashid has announced making legislation on mandatory premarital Thalassaemia screening in the province.

She was speaking at the 13th National Thalassaemia Conference and workshops at Fatima Jinnah Medical University (FJMU) here on Saturday. Punjab Governor Choudhry Muhammad Sarwar was the chief guest and Pakistan Bail Ul Maal Managing Director Aon Abbas Buppi was the guest of honour on the occasion. A large number of thalassaemic patients, their parents, doctors and social workers from all over the country attended the two-day national conference.

Dr Yasmin Raashid said that over 6,000 affected children were born annually with thalassaemia major meaning 17 affected children were born each day in Pakistan. These children require regular monthly blood transfusions and treatment just to stay alive.

Since there is no easily available cure for this disorder, the only hope lies in adopting a preventive programme on the line pursued by countries like Italy, Cyprus and Iran, which has resulted in either complete control or significant reduction in the births of new thalassaemia major children in these countries.

Considering the gravity of the issue, Punjab government took the lead and initiated Punjab Thalassaemia Prevention Project (PTPP), which is unique and could be compared with any other preventive programme in the world. The project is providing services totally free of cost in all 36 districts of Punjab.

Aon Abbas Buppi announced that Pakistan Bail Ul Maal would work on thalassemia on a priority basis and establish six new thalassaemia treatment centre in the country. Moreover, the budget of thalassaemia has also been doubled, which will go a long way in improving thalassaemia treatment services in the country.

The Punjab governor appreciated Thalassaemia Federation and its member organisations for their services to the nation through provision of treatment services to thalassaemics all over the country. He said that thalassaemia experts from all over the country presented the latest treatment and prevention protocols at the conference, which will help combat the disease.

“The government under the leadership of Imran Khan is committed to providing the best medical services to the people of the country,” he said, adding that the neglected area of thalassaemia would get due attention under the leadership of Dr Yasmin Rashid being the health minister of Punjab.

FJMU Vice-Chancellor Prof Amir Zaman Khan said that B-thalassaemia was the most common genetic disorder in Pakistan. The gene prevalence of thalassaemia is around six per cent which means that six out of every 100 Pakistanis carry this mutant gene. With a population of about 200 million, around 12 million people are healthy carriers of this gene. Thalassaemia is an autosomal recessive disease, which means that if two carriers get married to each other, they will have 1 in 4 (25 per cent) chance of having an offspring with thalassaemia major in every pregnancy. Currently, majority of the patients in Pakistan do not get adequate treatment.

Pakistan Thalassaemia Federation President Lt. Gen (R) Moin ud Din Haider also spoke on the occasion.