Thalassemia Centers not established yet

MN Report

Karachi: Health Department of Government of Sindh has miserably failed to make homework to establish 28 thalassemia Centers throughout the Sindh province announced by the Provincial Health Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar about five month ago, it was recently learned.

An Official of health department told that the Health Minister Jam Mehtab Hussain Dahar had announced establishment of 28 thalassemia Centers across the Sindh province to provide treatment and diagnostics facilities to thalassemia suffering children but unfortunately authorities concerned of department have failed to make any homework in this regard despite the lapse of five months.

While project of Former Provincial Minister for Health Dr Sagheer Ahmed to establish thalassemia Centers in seven major hospitals of the province at a cost of Rs. 174.116 million in 2011, in order to control the spread of the disease but unfortunately only three centers are made functional till date owing to negligence of authorities concerned in last five years.

The these centers would have been established at Civil Hospital Karachi, Lyari General Hospital, Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad,   Civil Hospital Mirpurkhas, Peoples Medical College Hospital Benazirabad, Ghulam Muhammad Meher College Sukkur and Chandka Medical College Hospital Larkana. But only three centers are operational yet.

The provincial government had established Thalassemia Day Care Centre under public-private partnership at Civil Hospital Karachi run by Patients’ Welfare Association in 2011, while thalassemia centers in Lyari General Hospital and Sindh Government Hospital Liaquatabad are yet to be made operational despite passage of about five year.

He said there are no facilities available for thalassemia patients in major hospitals like Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Center, Abbasi Shaheed Hospital and National Institute of Child Health. He said non-governmental organizations are carrying 80 to 90 percent burden of thalassemia patient patients in Sindh province.

Experts said thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder prevalent in Pakistan more than 6,000 babies are born with thalassemia disease every year and 0.1 million children living with thalassemia in Pakistan, while around 10 million people in our population who are thalassemia minor and have ability to transfer thalassemia major to their upcoming generation if they marry another carrier.