11.4% thalassaemia carriers found in Bangladesh

In Bangladesh, 11.4 per cent of people aged between 14 and 35 (both married and unmarried) are thalassaemia carriers, according to a survey by the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics (BBS) released Sunday.  

"Among the thalassaemia carriers, 11.9 per cent are male while 11.2 are female," Ligen Shah Nayeem, focal point official of BBS, told the report dissemination programme of the National Thalassaemia-2024 in the auditorium of BBS. 

State Minister for Planning Md Shahiduzzaman Sarker, Secretary of Statistics and Informatics Division Dr Shahnaz Arefin, Additional Secretary of Health  Service Division Muhammad Wahiduzzaman, among others, addressed the function with BBS Director General Mohammad Mizanur Rahman in the chair. 

President of Bangladesh Thalassaemia Samity Eng MA Matin, Scientist of Non-Communicable Disease of ICDDR'B Dr Aliya Naheed, haematologists and officials of relevant organisations joined the open discussion on the survey report on thalassaemia at the programme. 

Nayeem said, "Under the national thalassemia survey, 8,680 people were selected for detecting the presence of thalassamia. Of them, blood samples were collected from 7,979 people." 

After blood sample screening, 11.4 per cent of people were found to be thalassaemia carriers, he said. 11.6 per cent of thalassaemia carriers have been detected in rural areas while 11 per cent of thalassaemia carrier people are found in urban 

setting. 

According to health experts, thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that affects your body's ability to produce haemoglobin and healthy red blood cells. 

Types include alpha and beta thalassemia, they said, adding thalassemia may cause you to experience anaemia-like symptoms that range from mild to severe. 

Treatment can consist of blood transfusions and iron chelation therapy.  

The state minister said, "The initiative of the thalassemia survey is a time-befitting step of BBS. Although the survey is carried out on a limited scale, it will have a huge impact on health, planning and other sectors." 

"The government has attached priority to five diseases," he said, adding that thalassemia is one of the five diseases.  

Shahiduzzaman urged the relevant organisations and the health ministry to launch a massive awareness campaign on thalassemia among the people, which eventually will make the country free from the disease. 

He also said authorities of all public hospitals, health complexes and community clinics must ensure blood screening to know the presence of thalassaemia. 

Other health experts laid emphasis on screening of blood before getting married to make Bangladesh a thalassaemia-free country. Explaining the nature of thalassemia, they said babies are born with thalassemia diseases if one of their parents is a carrier of it.