PESHAWAR, May 8: Speakers at a World Thalassaemia Day function on Tuesday called for strict enforcement of the pre-marriage thalassaemia screening law to contain the deadly disease, which affects around 6,000 children in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa every year.Head of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Thalassaemia Project Professor Dr Abdul Hameed told participants at the Khyber Institute of Child Health that Iran, Saudi Arabia and some other countries blocked marriage if anyone of a couple tested positive for thalassaemia minor.

He said the solution to thalassaemia was prevention as once affected by it, they didn’t survive.

Dr Hameed said his project sought people’s blood screening for thalassaemia in the areas with high prevalence of the disease. He said first cousins should avoid getting married to prevent thalassaemia.

“Around 25 per cent of children whose parents have tested positive for thalassaemia are at the risk of contracting the disease,” he said.

Dr Hameed said around two million people had thalassaemia minor in the province.

Information minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain, who was the chief guest on the occasion, said thalassaemia was a deadly disease but could be prevented through better public awareness of its causes.

He said efforts would be made to educate people about thalassaemia screening before getting married.

Mr Iftikhar said the government had enacted a law for couples to get their blood screened for thalassaemia before marriage.

Provincial social welfare minister Sitara Ayaz also spoke on the occasion.

Meanwhile, a World Thalassaemia Day function was organised at the Hamza Foundation, where Senator Ahmad Hassan Khan was the chief guest.

The senator said children suffering from thalassaemia required urgent attention. He said the thalassaemia incidence was alarming but there were many who wanted to treat poor children affected by it.

He said he would approach the government and donor agencies for provision of financial help to thalassaemia patients.

Actor Ajab Gul, who was also in attendance, demanded implementation of the pre-marriage thalassaemia screening test saying it can put the brakes on the disease.