IT appears that most Pakistanis are only moved to donate blood when they are confronted with news of a major terrorist act in which multiple people have been wounded. A report in this paper on Friday gave some insight into the apathy and ignorance with which people approach this important civic duty. The fear that donating blood will affect one’s health and make them susceptible to infections discourages people from the practice. As a result, sometimes medical procedures need to be delayed for lack of stored blood. But the plight of those who require transfusions on a regular, sometimes weekly, basis — such as thalassaemia major patients — is the most distressing. The aforementioned report includes a poignant quote from the father of a thalassaemia patient that people have begun avoiding him socially because he has requested them so often to donate blood.

The suffering of individuals like these and their loved ones does not make the news or have the impact that a bomb blast or a major road accident does. While a number of organisations as well as some public-sector hospitals are doing commendable work in offering free treatment to patients with blood disorders, the shortage of donated blood can lead to transfusions being delayed. That can put patients of thalassaemia major at serious risk of severe anaemia. To allay fears over giving blood, the provincial governments must ensure that blood donation facilities within their jurisdictions are properly regulated and duly monitored. At the same time, as per the adage ‘prevention is better than cure’, there must be an awareness campaign in the media about thalassaemia, an inherited blood disorder particularly prevalent in Pakistan because of the tradition of interfamily marriages. Mandatory premarital blood screening, as required in Iran, is the pragmatic way to ensure that the incidence of this condition that places a huge burden on the country’s already creaking health infrastructure is reduced.

Published in Dawn, July 23rd, 2017