The Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority has decided to make arrangements for the availability of a laboratory test to help diagnose thalassaemia minor patients in all district and taluka hospitals in the province. Seven thalassaemia centres will be set up in the province — two centres in Karachi and one each in Hyderabad, Larkana, Nawabshah, Sukkur and Mirpurkhas.
This was announced by Syed Hashim Raza Zaidi, Provincial Secretary of Health on behalf of Sindh Health Minister Dr. Sagheer Ahmed at a seminar organised by the Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority (SBTA) in connection with World Thalassaemia Day held recently at a local hotel.
In his brief address, the Health Secretary spoke about the significance of the diagnostic test and said that the test, single tube osmotic fragility, would help identify thalassaemia in adults as well as newborns.
“Thalassaemia is one of the most common genetic disorders in Pakistan. The introduction of the test and establishment of centres are definitely steps in the right direction,” he said while appreciating the role of the SBTA.
Giving a presentation on services of the SBTA and its structure, Dr Zahid Hasan Ansari, secretary of the SBTA, said that monitoring teams of the authority randomly visited blood banks in the province and checked the quality of work, technical staff and facilities for blood screening and storage.
The authority had so far approved 146 blood banks and closed down 126 blood banks of the total 304 blood banks in Sindh while 32 blood banks were under observation.
An amount of Rs173 million had already been approved for the establishment of the thalassaemia centres, he said.