Spreading Awareness about ‘Thalassemia’ Necessary

Courtesy: daijiworld.com

Mangalore, May 11: It is necessary to create awareness on the ‘thalassemia’ disease caused due to lack of red blood corpuscles in children, said Dr Santhosh Soans, children’s specialist, speaking at a press conference here on Sunday May 10.

The press conference was organized by Cipla Company as part of the ‘World Thalassemia Day’.

Around a hundred thousand children in the world fall prey to thalassemia disease every year. In India, the figure has gone up to 10,000 children per year, he said.

In Dakshina Kannada, the number of children getting afflicted by this disease is comparably less. Still, some cases in Sullia and Beltangady are being diagnosed with this defect, said Soans.

Regular and repeated blood transfusion of the thalassemia-affected persons happens to be the only preliminary treatment presently available for the disease, he explained.

Iran produces first desferal pills

Courtesy by: presstv.ir

Iranian researchers have produced the world’s first desferal pills to treat iron overload in patients suffering from thalassemia.

A hereditary blood disease, Thalassemia is characterized by altered hemoglobin formation and anemia. Patients must receive blood transfusions every 2 to 4 weeks to alleviate anemia-related symptoms.

While transfusion improves the quality of life in thalassemic patients, it adds excess iron to the body, resulting in chronic iron overload.

These patients receive desferal (deferoxamine mesylate USP), an iron-chelating agent, shots to slow the accumulation of iron in their bodies.

The newly-developed pills have shown promising results in overcoming the need for 8 to 12 injections per day in thalssemic patients. They can also lower the pain commonly experienced following the use of desferal injections.

“The new desferal pills have received FDA approval and are going to be mass-produced in the coming 3 months,” said managing director of the Iranian thalassemia association Mohammad Reza Mashhadi.

Some 18,616 thalassemic patients have been registered in Iran the majority of whom live in northern and southern parts of the country.

Due to a national prevention program which screens couples for thalassemia traits before marriage, the number of newly diagnosed cases has considerably decreased in recent years.

Doctors donate blood for thalassemics

Courtesy by: expressindia.com

Ludhiana In view of 18th International Thalassemia Day, the departments of Transfusion Medicine and Pediatrics jointly organized 10th annual medicos voluntary blood donation camp today at Dayanand Medical College and Hospital.

The camp got started with an impressive inaugural ceremony, where Prem Gupta, Secretary of DMCH Managing Society, DMCH, was the chief guest while Principal of DMCH Dr Daljit Singh was and the guest of honour.About 150 units of blood were collected during the camp.

The day is observed all over the world to commemorate the death anniversary of George Englesoz of Cyprus, who died at a young age of 26. Despite being a thalassemic, he was an active member of Thalassemic International Federation and worked tirelessly for the welfare of thalassemic patients all over the world.

The president of Punjab Thalassemia Welfare Society, Rama Kapoor elaborated on the functioning of the society and monetary and other benefits being provided to the thalassemic children by the society

Professor and Head of Transfusion Medicine, Dr Amarjit Kaur extended a warm welcome to the dignitaries, faculty, voluntary blood donors, NGOs including Rashmi Karwa, Social Welfare Society, Mandi Ahmedgarh, Salaam Zindagi and Har Har Astha Sewa Parivar and thalassemic children present on the occasion. She appreciated the active involvement of medical professionals in voluntary donating the blood for this noble cause. A group of thalassemic children also put up a solo and group song performance.

Professor of Pediatrics and In-charge of Thalassemia Unit at DMCH, Dr Parveen C Sobti proposed a vote of thanks to those present on the occasion. She informed that presently, Thalassemia Unit at DMCH was catering to the need of 215 children, who were regularly getting blood transfusions. She expressed her deepest gratitude to those organizations and welfare societies who have contributed a lot for championing the noble cause of thalassemic children.

The faculty who donated blood started with Medical Suptd, Dr Sandeep Puri, who holds the distinction of being the leading blood donor from DMCH faculty and was honoured with a gold medal on the occasion.The regular faculty members include Dr Gautam Ahluwalia, Dr Navjot K. Bajwa, Dr GS Bajwa, Dr Rajesh Arya, Dr PPS Gill and Dr Gautam Biswas.

Contribution of the staff of Transfusion Medicine Department was also acknowledged for their round-the-clock working to meet the demand of blood and blood components. The monetary contributions were made by Sunila Gupta, Mrs Rama Munjal and Mrs Nandita Gupta for the treatment of those thalassemic children whose parents were not able to bear the cost of their medical treatment.

Rally brings thalassemia into focus

Courtesy by: expressbuzz.com

HYDERABAD: An awareness rally that was held at Charminar on Sunday to generate awareness about the effects of Thalassemia and Sickle Cell abnormalities, saw considerable participation from enthusiastic members of the pubic and curious bystanders alike. The rally was flagged off by Principal Secretary to the Ministry of Health and Medicine, L V Subramanyan. The march was organised by The Thalassemia And Sickle Cell Society, Hyderabad.

The key issues covered at the event included the need for adequate blood transfusion, donor facilities and ‘leuco- depleted blood’, which is required by Thalassemia patients.

The society announced that at present, the Government is considering providing essential medicines for affected patients at subsidised rates, along with making HBA2 test mandatory at the pre-martial state in the near future.

Presently, the Society provides aid and support for affected patients and their families by way of medical consultation, transfusion, check-ups and counselling.

ENOC Supports World Thalassemia Day

Courtesy by: DubaiCityGuide.com

Staff members to wear campaign T-shirts and caps

Emirates National Oil Company (ENOC) has announced its support to the community health awareness campaign organised by Emirates Thalassemia Society from May 2 to 8, 2009, in connection with World Thalassemia Day on Friday, May 8, 2009.

In line with ENOC’s initiative, information posters on the genetic blood disorder are now available at all service stations in Dubai and Northern Emirates. ENOC staff members are also wearing campaign T-shirts and caps, as well as distributing information material among customers to encourage them to take advantage of the free screening tests and participate in the blood donation campaigns to assist those suffering from this disease.

Khalid Hadi, ENOC Group Brand and Marketing Manager, emphasised that ENOC’s support to the Thalassemia campaign reflects the group’s ongoing commitment to the community. He said: “Giving back to the community is a top priority for ENOC and we are keen to fulfil our commitment in all aspects of life, especially healthcare.”

“We are committed to support such initiatives as we realise the importance of enhancing the knowledge and awareness of Thalassemia. With a large number customer turnout, our service stations are ideal locations to disseminate information and increase the public’s awareness on the simple steps they can take that will make a huge difference,” Hadi added.

To further support Thalassemia patients, ENOC arranged a blood donation drive on May 4, 2009 at ENOC Complex, in cooperation with Al Wasl Hospital, which is the central blood bank of the Department of Health and Medical Services. ENOC employees and members from the public participated in the campaign to help meet the continuous need for blood supplies.

Thalassemia patients require regular, and in some cases frequent blood transfusions for survival. Though highly prevalent in the Gulf region, all it takes to prevent this disorder is a simple and inexpensive pre-marital blood test. The high prevalence of this disease means that blood banks in the country are constantly under pressure to meet the transfusion needs of patients.

The Thalassemia Centre functioning at Al Wasl Hospital under the Department of Health and Medical Services currently uses 60% of its blood reserves to treat Thalassemia patients.

Thalassemia Day: Gujarat has 7,000 patients

Courtesy by: gujaratglobal.com

Gujarat Global News Network, Ahmedabad

The state government’s programme to conduct thalassemia tests in the universities has proved to be a major flop show. In the last four months tests have been done on less than 5 percent students. This is despite the fact that thalassemia is increasing at a fast rate and Gujarat alone has nearly 7,000 patients.

Thalassemia is a common genetic disease. It can be detected by blood test only. A child starts losing haemoglobin by 12 months and has to be given blood transfusion frequently throughout his life. Blood transfusion alone does not solve the problem. This also causes iron deposition which may lead to organ failure and consequently death of the patient. To deal with this iron is removed by expensive iron chelation injections.

In India every year nearly 10,000 children are found with thalassemia. Though various NGOs and some medical organizations have been conducting programmes about the disease, lack of awareness is still a major problem which has resulted in rise in number of patients.

May 8 is World Thalassemia day and on the occasion city based Thalassemia Jagruti Foundation has organized an entertainment programme for the patients. Secretary of the foundation Dr. Anil Khatri said that lack of awareness is the major reason for this disease. Though it is genetic and is found more in some communities.

Ahmedabad alone has nearly 1,000 thalassemia patients which are increasing every year. Blood transfusion is a costly process and at times risky too. He said that there are five patients in the city who have developed HIV infection after transfusion.

The foundation and other NGOs have made representations to the government for providing financial assistance to thalassemia patients. The response is good, that is what Dr. Khatri has to say when asked about the steps government had taken. The government has given approval to a proposal for free travel to thalassemia patients in ST and AMTS buses. It is likely to be implemented in a month.

The Red Cross Society is conducting thalassemia test programmes in various colleges throughout the state. But the response of the students is poor, Prakash Parmar, Progamme Manager Red Cross society said. He said that in Ahmedabad there are nearly 75,000 college students and only 5,000 have undergone tests.

Wagh Bakri group is actively involved in prevention of thalassemia.

Red Cross launches low cost centre for blood transfusion

Courtesy by: indianexpress.com

Pune: In a bid to minimise the burden on families of the Thalassemia patients, the Pune branch of the Indian Red Cross Society has come up with an initiative to provide facility of blood transfusion at a lower cost. The society will start a dedicated blood transfusion centre for Thalassemia patients at Dr N J Bandorewala health centre at Rasta Peth on February 4.Elaborating on the initiative, honorary secretary of the society’s city unit R V Kulkarni said, “The centre will have a capacity of six beds where blood transfusions can be done on 12 patients a day as each transfusion requires nearly four hours.”

“There are around 500 registered Thalassemia patients in the city. Owing to lack of haemoglobin, they have to go for blood transfusion every 15 – 20 days. This process is costly as each transfusion costs around Rs 250 to Rs 400 depending on where it is done. This causes a major dent in the economic conditions of the patients’ families. As per our initiative, the cost of the blood transfusion will be around Rs 100 to Rs 150. For economically weaker families, we will provide the facility free of cost,” said Kulkarni.

Blood: the global need for donation

Courtesy by: cba.ca

Blood transfusion — the process of transferring blood or blood components from one person into another — treats massive blood loss due to trauma or replaces blood lost during surgery. It’s also used to treat people suffering from conditions such as severe anemia caused by a blood disease, such as hemophilia, sickle-cell anemia and thalassemia.

The early history of blood transfusion was dominated by trial and error. Mostly error.

So many people died after receiving the earliest recorded transfusions in the mid-17th century that the practice was banned in several European countries. Back then, doctors often used small quantities of the blood of animals, believing there was some benefit to inter-species blood exchange. Several of those early human patients survived, probably because the small quantity of blood used kept any reactions to a minimum.

International blood factoids

• Over 80 million units of blood are donated every year around the world.
• Only 38% is collected in developing countries where 82% of the global population live.
• More than half a million women die every year from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth worldwide — 99% of them are in developing countries. Hemorrhage, which accounts for 25% of the complications, is the most common cause of maternal death.
• Up to 70% of all blood transfusions in Africa are given to children with severe anemia due to malaria, which accounts for about one in five of all childhood deaths in Africa.

Transfusion remained a risky proposition until the early 20th century, when scientists discovered that people had different blood types and mixing some types could lead to a fatal reaction. Another discovery — that refrigerated blood treated with special preservatives could be stored and used days later — made transfusion a viable treatment method.

Today, most blood transfusions do not involve whole blood but one or several of the components that make up blood. Blood is a mixture of cells and liquid, and each component performs specific tasks.

• Red blood cells carry oxygen to the body’s tissues. They remove carbon dioxide. These cells comprise up to 45 per cent of your blood.
• White blood cells are the immune system’s main defence against infection. They make up less than one per cent of your blood.
• Platelets are cell fragments that clot, which helps to prevent and control bleeding. Platelets make up five per cent of your blood.
• Plasma is a straw-coloured liquid that is 90 per cent water. It is vital to your survival. It provides the transportation system for blood cells. Without plasma, the cells would not be able to do their work. Besides water, plasma also contains dissolved salts and minerals like calcium, sodium, magnesium, and potassium. Plasma also carries microbe-fighting antibodies that fight disease, and makes up about 55 per cent of our blood.

The average adult carries about five litres of blood. The average unit of donated blood is half a litre.

Blood types

The eight major types of blood (and the percentage of the population that have them) are:

• O positive (about 38%)
• O negative (about 7%)
• A positive (about 34%)
• A negative (about 6%)
• B positive (about 9%)
• B negative (about 2%)
• AB positive (about 3%)
• AB negative (about 1%)

People who are O negative can donate blood to anyone. People who are AB positive can receive blood from anyone.

Blood cells are produced by bone marrow. Some cancer patients may need transfusions to build up red blood cell counts that have been reduced by chemotherapy, which can interfere with the ability of bone marrow to produce red blood cells. People suffering from hemophilia, a disease that affects their blood’s ability to clot, may require plasma or the clotting factors contained in plasma to help their blood clot and prevent internal bleeding.

While the science of blood transfusion has advanced, there remain risks to the procedure. They include:

• Fever, which can be caused by a reaction between the recipient’s immune system and immune cells in the donor blood.
• Allergic reactions like hives or itching sometimes happen because of a reaction between the recipient’s immune system and proteins in the donated blood. These are usually mild but can be severe enough to force doctors to stop the transfusion.
• Hemolytic reaction, or the destruction of red blood cells, occurs when the donated blood and the patient’s blood are not a match. This can be life-threatening. It’s also extremely rare as health-care professionals go to great lengths to make sure that blood types are compatible before the transfusion.

There are other risks, like the transmission of certain diseases, including HIV, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and Lyme disease. (For a complete list, go to the Public Health Agency of Canada.)

Since November 1985, all blood collected in Canada has been screened for HIV and other communicable diseases. It’s estimated that the risk of contracting HIV from donated blood is now 1 in 2.1 million. In the mid-1980s, that risk was 1 in 16,000. The risk of contracting hepatitis C is estimated at 1 in 1.9 million.

Canadian Blood Services (CBS) and Héma-Québec are responsible for collecting blood and administering the blood supply in Canada. The two agencies supply hospitals with well over 1.2 million units of blood a year. They strive to maintain a six-day supply of blood but periodically they fall below that.

‘There just isn’t going to be enough blood for all the procedures that patients need’—Dr. Graham Sher

On Oct. 29, 2008, CBS issued an urgent appeal for donors, saying the blood supply had fallen to just a two-day supply. Dr. Graham Sher, an official with the CBS national office in Ottawa, said donations had dropped 40 per cent over the previous two months.

“Demand for blood continues to outstrip our ability to collect it and if that continues, we’re going to get into a very difficult situation where there just isn’t going to be enough blood for all the procedures that patients need.”

While the agencies do appeal for more blood donors from time to time, an October appeal is uncommon. Normally, the blood supply drops off during the summer, when people take holidays and donors are scarce.

CBS and Héma-Québec have established basic criteria that blood donors must meet before they can give blood. They include that you must:

• Be between 17 and 71 years old to be a regular donor (17 to 61 to be a first-time donor).
• Weigh at least 50 kg (110 pounds).
• Be in general good health and feeling well when you donate.
• Complete a screening questionnaire.

Certain people are not allowed to donate at all. They include:

• People who lived in Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, Congo, Equatorial Guinea, Gabon, Niger and Nigeria who may have been exposed to a new strain of HIV.
• People who received a blood transfusion while visiting those countries or who have had sex with someone who lived there.
• People who spent three months or more in Britain or France between 1980 and 1996. They may have been exposed to variant Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease.
• All men who have had sex with another man, even once, since 1977. CBS argues that statistics show men who have sex with men are at greater risk for HIV/AIDS infection than other people.
• Anyone who has taken illegal drugs intravenously.
• Diabetics who are treated with insulin.

If you’ve recently had part of your body tattooed or pierced, you’re also excluded as a blood or bone marrow donor, but for only six months. If you’ve given blood and want to donate again, you have to wait at least 56 days.

According to the World Health Organization, at least 65 countries do not test all donated blood for HIV, hepatitis B, hepatitis C and syphilis. Tainted blood still accounts for as much as five per cent of HIV infections in Africa. The WHO estimates that six million tests that should be done for infections in donated blood are not carried out.