Daily Times

Thalassemic patients in Sindh are suffering a blood shortage due to a drop in volunteer blood donations in the holy month of Ramzan.

Thalassemiac patients are returning empty handed from Thalassemic centers and blood banks because people are reluctant to donate blood during Ramzan.

Thalassaemia Federation of Pakistan, Sindh Chapter President Muhammad Iqbal said that the number of blood donors in Sindh is insufficient to cater to the needs of thalassemic patients. “We are only able to meet 50 percent of the demand for blood in Sindh” he stated.

“There are around nine Thalassemia Centres in Karachi. Karachi’s daily requirement of blood for Thalassemic patients is 600 bottles per day which is very difficult to achieve,” said Iqbal, who also runs Kashif Iqbal Thalassaemia Care Centre (KITCC). “However this task becomes more challenging when Ramazan comes,’ he added.

“People avoid donating blood in Ramazan. But these kids need blood,” said Iqbal. “Educational institutes have shut down due to the summer vacations and that means students, our main source of blood donations, are out of reach,” he lamented.

Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder. Beta Thalassemia Major, one of the two primary types of the disorder, is a serious illness. Symptoms, which appear in the first two years of life, include paleness of the skin, poor appetite, irritability and stunted growth. Proper treatment includes routine blood transfusions and other therapies.

According to the estimates, there are more than 100,000 thalassemic patients in Pakistan most of whom are children. On average every child needs two pints of blood per month. That means that in Ramzan alone, countrywide requirement is 200,000 blood bags.

Similarly in Sindh alone there are more than 25,000 thalassemic patients. Provincial capital Karachi caters to approximately 60 percent of Thalassemic patients in Sindh. Not only do patients come from surrounding districts but also from Balochistan.

“Due to non-availability of blood, patients’ condition is exposed to danger and death is possible due to blood shortages,” Iqbal warned.

Sindh Prevention and Control of Thalassemia Act, 2013 made blood test for Thalassemia mandatory before marriage for both bride and groom but the law was never implemented on a large scale.

Mufti Naeem, a cleric, while stressing on the implementation of law on Thalassemia, said, “Thalassemic patients are increasing day by day in Pakistan. In order to curb this menace, the practice of producing relevant documentation, including blood test results, on the occasion of marriage should be made compulsory.”

“We should follow in the footsteps of Saudi Arabia which has implemented this law in the Kingdom,” opined the cleric.

For Iqbal, it is collective responsibility of the society to come forward and tackle the problem of blood shortage.

Renowned actor Noman Ijaz who has been vocal in creating awareness regarding Thalassemia , appealed to the public urging them to play their vital role in the elimination of Thelassemia.

Published in Daily Times, May 24^th 2018.