No hemophilia centre for 120m population of Punjab

LAHORE

Medical experts have observed that none of safe blood transfusion centres established eight years ago has been made functional while there is not a single hemophilia centre for the 120million population of Punjab.

“There are 17,000 to 18,000 hemophilia patients in Pakistan but 90 per cent of them do not get the required treatment,” they observed while speaking at a seminar on “Treatment for All is the Vision of All” organised in connection with World Hemophilia Day 2016, by the Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Memorial Society (Jang Group of Newspapers) in collaboration with the Pakistan Society of Hematology (PSH) and novo nordisk here at a local hotel on Saturday.

Adviser to Chief Minister on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique said that hemophilia is a genetic disease transmitted among generations, saying that pain and misery inflicted by the diseases and its treatment can only by known by the patient and the family. He said the Punjab government had increased the health budget from Rs 25 billion to Rs 166 billion, but criticised doctors and medical staff, who discredited the government by frequently holding strikes and protests in hospitals. He said that the people needed to realise their responsibility, saying that if parents get their children vaccinated against polio at specified centres, then it would help save Rs 10 to 11 billion spent on Lady Health Workers (LHWs). He said that female students secure 70 seats in medical colleges, who ultimately do not prefer to serve in rural areas, which was creating problems for the government.

Prof Nisar Ahmad, Head of Pediatric Hematology and Transfusion Medicine, Children’s Hospital, Lahore, said the Punjab government’s efforts in the health sector were wasted due to paucity of trained personnel, saying the government had established a building and provided equipment but there were no medical technologists to operate the equipment. He emphasised upon the government to formulate policy in consultation with professionals in their relevant fields. He said that hemophilia patients required only a single factor among 12 to 13 factors in white blood cells of the donor. “A single donor’s blood can be used to treat four hemophilia patients,” he added.

Rana Azfar Zafar, General Manager novo nordisk, said that hemophilia patients do not get required treatment as over 90 per cent of such patients do not have access to treatment in Pakistan.

Munnoo Bhai, a senior columnist and playwright, said that mothers of 40 per cent of thalassaemia patients have been divorced by their husbands, which is the worst kind of discrimination against women. “It is highly unethical to hold women responsible for genetic diseases among their children,” he added.

Sheikh Alauddin, MPA, said that he had tabled a resolution in the Punjab Assembly about a mandatory test of couple before marriage a few years ago but it could never be made a law. “If couple are screened before marriage, they can protect their children from many genetic diseases,” he added.

Prof Salman Adil, Head of Hematology Department, AKU Hospital, Karachi, said that the administration of whole blood to a hemophilia patient was not only a waste of blood, but also may cause infection to the recipient.

Prof Samina Amanat, Association Professor of Hematology, PIMS, Islamabad, said that most patients go to hakeems and quacks and their condition was further aggravated, which was increasing the burden on government hospitals.

Masood Farid, President Pakistan Hemophilia Patient Welfare Society, said that he himself was a hemophilia patient, saying that hemophilia patients were getting international standard treatment from the platform of the Pakistan Hemophilia Patient Welfare Society.

Dr Ayesha Ehsan, Associate Professor Fatima Memorial Hospital, advocated improving BHUs and THQ hospitals to provide quality treatment services to patients in their own hometowns. Sofia Zaka said that nearly 75 per cent of hemophilia patients in the world were not getting required treatment, but the situation in Pakistan was even worse as nearly 90 per cent hemophilia patients were deprived of the treatment.

MKRMS Chairman Wasif Nagi hosted the seminar while Ali Imran Inayat and Kiran Butt assisted him.

Source : http://www.thenews.com.pk/print/121743-No-hemophilia-centre-for-120m-population-of-Punjab