Renowned medical scientist and Padma Shri awardee Dr, Omesh Bharti has sad that there are 2.5 Lakh carriers of defective gene in Himachal which is the root cause of Thalassemia. Pre-marriage Thalasemia detection test is the only way to get rid of this problem. Himachal is the only State in the country where a detailed survey has been done to map the problem. He was jointly addressing a webinar on “The Rights of Thalassemic Children and Significance of Blood Donation'” with Ajai Srivastava, chairman of Umang Foundation and a senior blood donor, to mart the International Thalassemia Day. It was Foundation’s 33rd weekly webinar on human rights.
Dr. Omesh Bharti said Thalassemia is a genetic blood disorder which transmit through genes from parents to children. Its symptom are visible at the age of 5-6 months when the child becomes pale and his growth slows down. The Thalassemia is determined through a test and the child needs blood transfusion and medicines through out life. Its full cure is still not possible. Bone-marrow transplant is claimed to be a solution but it has many post-transplant complications. He advised that if symptoms are visible in the child, people should not visit the tantric or devta but to immediately consult a doctor. He further suggested to go for pre-marriage Thalassemia tests and a carrier must not marry with the other Thalassemia carrier since.
If it is not done there are 25% chances that the child to be born could be Thalassemia major. He revealed that he himself carried out a state wide survey , a first in India, to map the magnitude of the problem and found that there are more than 2.5 Lakh carriers of Thalassemia. Ajai Srivastava, a 93 times blood donor, elaborated the need of blood donation for the Thalassemic and other patients. He said the blood banking system in the state is defective and being run without any vision. It lacks necessary machines and trained manpower. He said a vibrant people’s moment is need of the hour to bring positive change in the system.
