KARACHI: Medical experts on Thursday expressed their concern over the increasing manifestation of some rare but treatable diseases in Pakistan.

Such diseases as lysosomal storage disorders (LSDs), they said, were creeping into the country’s already chequered health map and playing havoc with the people.

Regardless of the lack of disease registry in Pakistan, more than 100 patients are estimated to be affected every year by treatable LSDs, said Dr Tahir Shamsi, medical director of the National Institute of Blood Diseases, at a press conference at the institute.

He said in the last eight months more than 50 children had been diagnosed with the treatable LSDs.

Giving an overview of rare diseases, Dr Shamsi said a disease was considered rare if it affected a small percentage of population. The precise definition varied in different countries — one in 1,500 in the United States, one in 2,000 in Europe and 1:2,500 in Japan. Based on the least of those calculations, there were large numbers of suspected cases of LSDs in Pakistan, he added.

Published in Dawn, May 22nd, 2015

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