08 February 2005	Tuesday	28 Zilhaj 1425

LAHORE, Feb 7: Punjab Governor Khalid Maqbool said the blood screening of would-be couples before marriage could be helpful in bringing down the incidence of thalassemia in the country.

"We may begin with the blood screening of the would-be bridegrooms of mass wedding in this regard," he said while speaking at the concluding ceremony of one-day seminar on thalassemia organized by Fatimid Foundation at Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) here on Monday.

LCCI president Mian Misbahur Rehman, senior vice-president Sohail Lashari, professor of medicine, King Edward Medical College, Dr Javed Akram, and officials of Fatimid Foundation were also present on the occasion.

Khalid Maqbool said the government was ready to allow Fatimid Foundation and other haematological diagnostic organizations to carry out the screening of members of government organizations like police and rangers besides prisoners and school children.

"It is high time for every Pakistani to fulfil his or her social and moral responsibilities," he said.

The governor said that awareness among masses about the ways and means to avert thalassemia disorder could be instrumental in overcoming the prevalence of this hereditary disease.

Civic society, he said, should play its due role in tackling the problems of disease, poverty and social evils. The spirit of cooperation with fellow citizens was on the rise which was a good omen for the country.

He said that frequent awareness campaigns in the country had taken the Extended Programme of Immunization (EPI) to the enviable level of up to about 90 per cent which had minimized the polio incidents.

He said that better trained birth attendants could help check the rise in the mental diseases among the newly-born babies.

LCCI president Mian Misbahur Rehman, Prof Dr Javed Akram and Brother Lawrence Emmanuel of Fatimid Foundation also spoke on the occasion.-APP