HIV, Thalassemia be made part of Syllabus; Secretary Health Sindh Advocates

KARACHI- Secretary Health Sindh Dr. Fazlullah Pechuho, greatly stressed upon the need of including subject matter regarding diseases like, HIV and thalassemia in textbooks, to spread awareness amongst the general public of Sindh.

Addressing the Thalassemia Awareness Program as Chief Guest, organized by Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority (SBTA), Dr. Fazlullah stated that, collective efforts are required from all stakeholders of our society, in order to control the prevalence of this blood disorder.

Testing couples for Thalassemia and HIV before marriage should be made mandatory, to avoid future complications. Owners of blood banks and other health facilities should responsibly dispose off medical waste, rather than dumping it in open places, risking people’s lives.

Furthermore, Secretary Health  informed that, new incinerators are being installed in Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre, Larkana and Shaheed Benazirabad health facilities for proper disposal of medical wastage. Also, the Regional Blood Transfusion Centre (RBTC) in Nawabshah and Karachi, would soon be made operational under public private partnership. Previously based RBCTs are successfully running in Sukkur and Jamshoro.

In future, all Thalassemia centers will be connected with Regional Blood Transfusion Centers  to ensure provision of safe blood to children suffering from this blood disorder.

Secretary Sindh Blood Transfusion Authority, Dr. Zahid Ansari, Dr. Durr e Naz Jamal, Dr. Sarfarz Jaffary and Dr. Ghulam Sarwar were present at this occasion and voiced out their opinions on this important matter.

Lastly, appreciation certificates and shields were distributed amongst the representatives of associated blood banks.