Feature

No more Thalassemia:
Prevention in your Hand

Md. Naibur Rahman & Shamrin Afia Adiba

“THALASSEMIA in Bangladesh is increasing at an alarming rate, faster than HIV.” Considering the present scenario, an awareness programme on Thalassemia was organised jointly by Star Campus, Thalassemia Support Initiative (TSI) and Thalassemia Foundation on 19th June at the Daily Star Conference room. The programme was aimed to create awareness among the young generation of the country. Students from eight different universities took part in the programme.

TSI, an initiative of some young minds from Faculty of Business Studies, University of Dhaka, came in with a vow of “No more Thalassemia”. Their initiative first came to our view after watching a long queue at the FBS, DU where everyone was waiting to have their blood screened to know whether they are Thalassemia carriers or not. The result was quite alarming as 4 out of 52 students from DU were found to be “Thalassemia Carriers”.

Sonia Rezina, one of the TSI members, started with her powerful multi media presentation on the disease, its symptoms and its treatment. Her 10 minutes presentation provided everyone with enough information to wake up. It said, “If both the parents are Thalassemia Carriers then the probability of their children becoming Thalassemia patients is likely to be high. If only one parent is Thalassemia Carrier then there is no chance of their children being Thalassemia patients,” she said. According to Publication of World Health Organization (WHO) almost 1 crore 12 lacs people are Thalassemia Carriers. Every year almost 7,500 children are born with this disease only because of the ignorance of the people in our society.

Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder characterised by abnormally less hemoglobin and fewer red blood cells in the body. Thalassemia comes from the Greek word 'thalassa', meaning 'sea', and it was given this name because it mostly affects people living in the Mediterranean region. Thalassemia can be identified through a simple blood test called 'Hemoglobin Electrophoresis'. The test also certifies the type of Thalassemia. A person with a feature of “Thalassemia Carrier/Minor” lives a normal life with no significant health problem except in few conditions like pregnancy, severe infection. But the other type of Thalassemia, the major one, is the difficult

one to be treated as lifelong medical care is needed and survival is not possible without regular blood transfusion.