ISLAMABAD: Thalassaemia centre set up in Islamabad
By Our Staff Reporter
ISLAMABAD, Feb 21: The first-ever public-sector thalassaemia centre was established on Monday at the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (Pims).
"The centre is part of the federal government's initiative to provide comprehensive medical treatment to patients suffering from this disease," Health Secretary Anwar Mehmood said while inaugurating the centre.
He said the health ministry had also convinced pharmaceutical companies to reduce price of 'Desferol' injections, used in the treatment, by 30 per cent, adding that treatment costs five per cent of the health budget. He also announced that national haemophilia and blood disease centres would be opened at Pims soon.
Initially, thalassaemia centre will have 15 beds, where 600 units of blood would be transfused every month while 30 children are expected to be treated at the centre everyday.
The centre will offer free medical consultation, genetic counselling, specialized pathology investigations, safe blood transfusion and chelation therapy (removing excess iron from the body accumulated due to repeated blood transfusions) to the patients.
In Pakistan, 5,500 children are born with thalassaemia every year, while Pims has 250 registered patients of thalassaemia. Thalassaemia is the most common genetic blood disorder especially among children suffering from chronic anaemia. These children are dependent on regular blood transfusions for their survival.
Speaking on the occasion, Pims Executive Director Dr Fazle Hadi said hereditary disorder was one of the reasons for this disease, adding that 70 per cent of marriages in Pakistan were held between close cousins. This tendency is also responsible for other diseases like cleft palate lip, cardiac and brain disorders.
He said medical care provided to these patients in most of the hospitals was unsatisfactory due to different factors like lack of awareness among the public about the disease, financial constraints, problems regarding availability of safe blood transfusions and inadequate or lack of provision for chelation therapy.
Majority of the patients, he said, were from low income group and in many cases, more than one sibling was affected, creating tremendous strain on the meagre financial resources of the family. The estimated annual cost of medication for the treatment of one transfusion dependent thalassaemia patient is Rs6,000, he said.
It is planned that expenses incurred on the purchase of medicines would be generated through private donations, Dr Hadi said, adding that a fund raising campaign, 'Sponsor a Thalassaemia Child', had also been initiated in which people could donate Rs6,000 to cover the expense of one year's treatment of the child suffering from the disease.
A public awareness campaign about thalassaemia and its eradication from the society would soon be launched by the thalassaemia centre team, he said. The thalassaemia centre would have the services of some highly qualified experts like Dr Tahira Zafar, consultant haematologist.
Dr Hadi also highlighted the need for spreading the message of avoiding close cousin marriages which were responsible for a lot of morbidity and mortality among children in Pakistan.
