PESHAWAR, March 10: The provincial health department has decided to use a Pushto name for thalassaemia to spread awareness about the disease. The health department had decided to launch a project to spread awareness about the need to prevent thalassaemia last year but no progress was made in this regard because of lack of funds.

This year, the health department has released Rs5.09 million of the allocated amount of Rs30 million.

The disease was prevalent in the province but people confused it with other blood-related disease and the Pushto name would clear the confusion, said chief of the child health department in the Khyber Teaching Hospital, Prof Abdul Hameed, who is looking after the project with Pakistan Medical Research Council Director Dr Zahoorullah and Dr Fazle Raziq.

He said that the Pushto name of the disease would be announced next week.

He said a crash programme was being launched this month with preparation of a directory of index cases, which would be followed by a strategy to screen 60 members of the family of the patient’s father and 60 of the mother’s family.—Correspondent