India gets 8,000 new Thalassaemia cases annually

May 19: It requires only a simple blood test before marriage to prevent Thalassaemia.

But being a victim of ignorance, India gets over 8,000 new cases annually, as per Thalassaemia Society of India report. About 2,500-3,000 new cases are reported every year in West Bengal.

India is believed to have about 30 million carriers of Thalassaemia genes, most of whom pass the genes on to their children, pushing them to life-long hell. Even before the children understand what pain is all about, they have to take regular blood transfusions and suffer the side effects. And all these, just because their parents didn’t care to get a blood test done before tying the knot and planning a family.

As per the recent statistics, India has over 100,000 Thalassaemia major people, out of which 30,000 are in West Bengal.
“Thalassaemia is one of the most common inherited diseases. There is only one way to prevent and eradicate this disease-every couple must get their blood tested to check if they are carrying Thalassaemia genes, before getting married… no parent will want their kids to suffer lifelong with an incurable disease.” Dr Barun Banerjee, haematologist at Mission of Mercy Hospital and Research Centre, told IBNS here.

Banerjee further said Mediterranean countries like Greece, Italy, Cyprus and Turkey have been able to prevent Thalassaemia with this method only.

“Approximately 100.000 babies worldwide are born with severe forms of Thalassaemia each year. But of late, Mediterranean countries have been able to prevent Thalassaemia babies to a great extent by raising awareness among masses to undergo pre-marital blood test” Banerjee said.

The reason for the lack of awareness among masses in India about this disease is primarily because of the vast rural population.

“Over 78% of our population stays in villages…neither they are aware, nor they have the money to get their blood tested. And, when their children are born Thalassaemic, they don’t have the money for blood transfusions,” said Sanjay Prasad, CEO of Mercy Hospital.

Meanwhile, talking about treating the disease in India, Banerjee said there is a huge scarcity of blood donors in the country.

“Every Thalassaemia child needs to undergo blood transfusion at least thrice a year. But in India, there is still a taboo on blood donation. People are scared…they still think that they will become anaemic by donating blood. We are tired of telling them that if there is no harm in donating 5cc blood every three months.”

In order to reach out to the masses, especially the village people, and help Thalassaemia patients, Mercy Hospital conducts over 3,500 blood transfusions for free every year.

“Mercy Hospital is the only private hospital in West Bengal…perhaps in eastern India…that offer 100% free transfusions, along with free medicines, every year to those who can’t afford the high treatment costs and we have been doing this for the past 30 years,” Prasad said.

Most of the patients come from remote parts of West Bengal, including Chakda, Midnapore, Ranaghat and Behrampore.
“The process of blood transfusion is very painful. To make our little patients feel comfortable during those days, we have made special wards for them. The wards are painted brightly and when the kids come for transfusions, they are given story books and laptops to divert their attention from the present condition,” Prasad said.

Thalassaemia is a group of inherited blood diseases that affect a person’s ability to produce haemoglobin in red blood cells. A person with Thalassaemia does not have enough blood cells to carry oxygen throughout the body, which can cause mild to severe anaemia.