Financial Express: Collaboration For Thalassemia Prevention

World Thalassemia Day: A Collaborative Approach Towards Prevention And Management Of Thalassemia Is Needed

Financial Express, Dr. K. Madan Gopal and Suryaprabha Sadasivan, 8 May 2020

(Image courtesy of Financial Express)

World Thalassemia Day: Over the years, there has been endless conversations on the issue of chronic blood shortages in India. On any given day, social media and chat groups are buzzing with requests for blood donors across the country. While India has seen improvement in blood collection in the past few years from 9.8 million units in 2012-12 to 11.45 million units in 2017-18, we are still short of over 1.9 million units of blood.

While the inconsistencies in the demand and supply of blood impacts many people across the country, one of the most vulnerable group are the thalassemic patients. Thalassemia comes from the Greek word Thalassa, which means ‘sea’, and the Latin word ‘emia’, which means blood as its earliest reported cases were first diagnosed in Mediterranean countries like Greece and Turkey. This genetic blood disorder requires patients to be on lifelong regular blood transfusions, usually administered every two to five weeks. The lifelong struggles of these patients against this severe disease is almost unimaginable for a commoner. Not only does it cause physical and psychological stress on the patients and their families, it also involves a lot of financial stress owing to the treatment.