THATTA: Patients at the thalassaemia centre managed by the Civil Hospital Makli have not been getting blood for one week.

The hospital administration and officials of the Indus Blood Bank have been asking parents of thalassaemia patients to bring blood donors to the health facility as they had run out of stocks.

According to the facts collected by Dawn, there are around 480 patients with second grade thalassaemia in Thatta and Sujawal districts and this centre had the capacity of catering to the healthcare requirement of 40-50 patients a day.

The parents of patients had brought the issue of blood shortage to the notice of a team of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan that visited Thatta recently. The delegation assured them of efforts towards resolving the issue but nothing has happened as yet.

Activists of various civil society organisations have also been raising their voice for measures at government level in this regard. They urged the chief minister to pay due attention to the matter.

According to a report published by the National Health Service last year, there are around 100,000 thalassaemia major patients in the country.

Dr Adnan Aziz, speaking to Dawn, said that if a thalassaemia patient was not given a blood doze on

Time, this could lead to severe complications and could even prove fatal.

Published in Dawn, May 21st, 2023