Aurangzeb Nadir
In the year 1994, the Thalassemia International Federation established May 8 as International Thalassemia Day. The day was declared an International observance in the loving memory of George Englezos. 8th May is celebrated every year to encourage the victims, and warriors their courage apart from being a victim of it they are struggling against it to live which is commendable, and also the purpose of celebrating this day is to raise awareness about it. However, year by year the number of thalassemia patients rising at an alarming and an estimated 1.5% of the global population are thalassemia carriers. Surprisingly in Pakistan, a report states that approximately 100,000 patients are suffering from thalassemia, and every year 5,000-9,000 babies are born with this deadly disease annually. Moreover, In Pakistan there are innumerable organizations are struggling to eradicate the thalassemia but it is impossible without the help of government. It is pity that the Pakistan government is not heeding on this serious issue therefore year by year the number of patients rising. Many countries which are succeeded to control the thalassemia cases including Iran, Cyprus, Italy, and Greece had a much higher burden than Pakistan but managed to successfully eradicate thalassemia from their society. These countries have not reported any new thalassemia major births for many years. At the same time, these countries have developed excellent healthcare programs for properly managing their existing thalassemia population but unfortunately, Pakistan’s government is not concentrating on this issue.Thus, thalassemia remains a significant public health concern in Pakistan even though Sindh and Balochistan provinces, in Balochistan and Sindh their health sector is in deterioration condition and these provinces as high burden of thalassemia. There are an estimated 2,000 children with ?-thalassemia in the province of Baluchistan of Pakistan. These children are at high risk of acquiring transfusion-transmitted infections (TTIs) due to their need for regular blood transfusions for survival. Only in district Kech, more than 350 patients are registered in the Kech thalassemia care center. In Balochistan the number of patients rising at an alarming. Balochistan government and Heath department should take it seriously and take solid steps for the prevention of it.Furthermore, a major cause of rising thalassemia patients is that we don’t test thalassemia before marriage it must be tested before marriage but we are avoiding it. As individuals, we can play a significant role to eradicate this fatal disease by testing ourselves before marriage and also attend awareness programs to be aware of it. Eventually, on the occasion of this day, I pay tribute to all the thalassemia warriors around the world and their courage is laudable. I request the government of Pakistan to help the organizations to eradicate it and take it seriously so that Pakistan will become a thalassemia-free country and also I plea to the public to donate blood as much as possible so that their lives can be saved.