ISLAMABAD: Before a couple signs a marriage contract, both of them should get tested for thalassaemia to ensure that they are not carriers and won’t pass the illness to their children, Pakistan Baitul Mal’s Managing Director Barrister Abid Waheed Sheikh said on Wednesday.

“It is a lethal disease,” Barrister Sheikh said at an event held at the Pakistan Thalassaemia Centre. “Its treatment should be begun at the earliest.”

A delegation from the World Health Organisation (WHO), led by the head of its blood safety unit, Dr Yetmgeta Abdella, was also present.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2016