The inauguration ceremony of Dow thalassaemia assistance unit at Dow Institute of Haematology Dow University Ojha Campus was inaugurated on Friday at Governor’s House. The inauguration ceremony of the unit was performed by Governor Dr Ishrat-ul-Ibad Khan. Prof Masood Hameed Khan, Vice Chancellor, Prof M Umer Farooq, Pro-Vice Chancellor, Dr Zeenat Ayoob, Registrar, Prof Dr Akbar Agha, Director, DAP, syndicate members, professors, senior faculty member of the university were present on the occasion.
Speaking as the chief guest on the occasion, the governor said that according to WHO, Thalassaemia is found in more than 60 countries with a carrier population of 250 million people worldwide and 2,000,000 are affected Thalassemia major patients.
He further said in Pakistan the highest frequency of Beta Thalassaemia trait is reported in Sindh and Punjab (Ambekar et al, 2001). Every year 6,000 patients are born with a severe form of this disease with 10 million carriers that pass the disease on to the next generation. There is a need to control and prevent the increasing burden of Thalassaemia in our population. This can be achieved by mass screening and awareness programs, counseling of patients and their families and providing state of art care to the Thalassaemia patients. According to Government of Sindh the policy has been implemented through Sindh Provincial Assembly legislation, made a Law for Pre-Marriage screening to stop marriages in between 2 Thalassaemia Minor partners.
Appreciating the efforts of Vice Chancellor of DUHS Professor Masood Hameed Khan Sahab and the faculty of DUHS, he sadi that the team of DUHS is always keen to stand up for the health related problems of general public (community).
Prof Dr Masood Hameed Khan, Vice Chancellor, DUHS in his address said that Dow Institute of haematology (DIH)” has been established in the premises of Ojha Campus of Dow University of health Sciences to provides services in haematology, transfusion medicine, research and diagnostics. It serves as a resource centre to provide blood and its products in affordable price for transfusion requirements. This institute is involved in multiple postgraduate training programs like M.Phil (haematology) leading to PhD and MS in transfusion medicine and tissue typing.
The objective was to provide diagnostic and therapeutic services related to haematology and transfusion medicine for patients with haematological and non haematological disorders, to support in research and development activities within as well as outside university to provide teaching and training at all levels and to support liver transplantation and Jinnah Genome Projects of DUHS.
Dow-TAP, Thalassemia Assistance Program Major Components includes Awareness, Screening, Diagnosis (Premarital & Prenatal), Technical support/co-operation with other Thalassemia organizations and Genetic counseling.
There is dire need of sensitization, information and education of the population at risk. The role of the authorities, the role of the associations of parents and patients, the role of mass media, the role of the mosque/moulana, the role of the school and teacher is very important to overcome this problem.
