KARACHI: Sohail Baloch, a resident of Karachi’s suburb Lyari Town, was at Kashif Iqbal Thalassaemia Care Centre (KITCC) as his 14-year old son Husnain, a Thalassemia major child, receives blood. He has three kids from his first marriage, held some 16 years back. Sohail and his wife, both Thalassemia minors, did not opt for blood screening. Now, one of their children is Thalassemia patient. “If the government was creating awareness about this disease, things would have been under control,” said Sohail. Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder in which the body makes an abnormal form of hemoglobin. Hemoglobin is the protein molecule in red blood cells that carry oxygen. Anemia is a condition in which the body doesn’t have enough normal healthy red blood cells. According to estimates, approximately 5000 children are diagnosed with thalassemia-major every year in Pakistan. In a case where both parents are thalassemia minors, there are 25% chances of having thalassemia major child, 25% chances of a normal child, and 50% chances of having a thalassemia minor child. Thalassaemia is a major burden on the society. It can be completely eradicated by preventing marriage between two carriers. Furqan Ali and Mariyam, two siblings from another family, were busy playing video games on their phone while the blood transfusion was on. Their mother Irum Bibi was sitting beside them. The family belongs to Karachi’s Quaidabad area. The father of both the children works in a private firm with low salary package. “Both children suffered Thalassemia early in their childhood,” told Irum. “We are frequent visitors of this centre. If me and my husband had opted for blood screening before the marriage, we could have avoided this medical problem,” she added. According to Irum, it was hard for them to find a suitable place to get the blood. “Before coming to KITCC, we used to go to different government hospitals and NGOs but it was hard for us to get blood,” Irum informed. According to some estimates, approximately 20 million people are Thalassemia minors. “The main reason behind the expansion of Thalassemia is cousin marriages,” said Muhammad Iqbal, Chairman KITCC. “We conducted a survey sometimes ago which revealed that Balochis have most of the cases of blood related diseases because of cousin marriages. Pakhtoons, Memons, Kachis, and Gujraatis also have high numbers of blood related diseases,” he added.