BY: Maleeha Sami
While Pakistan has some brighter sides to it, it also has some darker sides. And we are fully aware of it.
However, have you ever heard about the disease Thalassemia?
If you have not, then let me educate you a little on it. Thalassemia is a disease that is basically a blood disorder which is inherited by your family. In this disease, the body does not make blood like it is supposed to. Lack of hemoglobin or abnormal amount of blood can later lead to many other diseases as well; in worse cases death.
For so long, Pakistan has been dealing with this major health concern that many people don’t have an idea of. It is one of the most common genetically transferred blood disorders.
Are you wondering if there is any cure for this disorder?
Doctors in Pakistan usually use three standard treatments for normal to worse cases. These treatments include blood transfusion, iron chelation therapy, and folic acid supplements. For severe cases, there is still no treatment. Doctors around the world are still testing the possible cure to it. Hence, this blood disorder can only be balanced in various ways but you can never put a stop to it.
But why am I telling you about a blood disorder?
Being one of the citizens of Pakistan, it is imperative for you and me to educate ourselves on every social problem that this country has. This disorder might sound very normal to you but it is destroying the lives of millions of children every day in Pakistan.
Preventing a disorder is far better than its cure. According to many doctors, thalassemia can be cured if it is identified in its early stages. For this reason, it is better to educate the people of Pakistan.
We cannot find a cure to it but as our social responsibility, we can find a middle way. The treatment is extremely expensive. The majority of people living in this country are not capable of handling the costs of the treatment; hence, they resort to just one solution. That solution is a blood transfusion.
Do you know what the worst part is?
Due to the recent global pandemic that we all know about; the Corona Virus, it has changed situations. Under a lockdown, being quarantined is not the worst thing happening. If anything more worst than this exists, it is how blood banks are running out of the blood. And do you know who is getting affected by such a problem? It’s the children and adults who are suffering from such deadly disorders. People who are not financially stable to afford their treatment are suffering from it. Blood transfusion was the only way they can stay alive. Now blood banks are running out of the blood.
In case you don’t know, even patients suffering from COVID-19 sometimes need blood transfusions. With people staying at home, no one’s donating blood anymore and this is worse than any other pandemic.
As a citizen of this country which was made decades ago so that people can live peacefully, in love, in harmony; just for us and as a human, it is our social responsibility to help the people in need. We have wonderful examples of individuals providing rations to families in need but we also need to pay attention to this issue as well.
اللہ آپ کو آپ کے نیک جذبوں اور اعمال کی جزا دے۔۔۔ ٹیم سرِعام کے جانباز تھیلیسیمیا کے مریض بچوں کے لئے پاکستان بھر میں خون عطیہ کرنے کے مہم چلا رہے ہیں۔ ٹیم سرِعام اسلام آباد ساؤتھ کے جانبازوں نے بھی اپنے خون سے زندگی کے دئیے روشن کئے۔ https://t.co/yJGRCIMyxd
— Iqrar ul Hassan Syed (@iqrarulhassan) March 30, 2020
We know that you cannot get out of quarantine but in the recent news, it was said that people who wish to donate blood can do that at their own convenience. They just have to dial the number of the blood bank. Some people from the blood bank will come to your house with their equipment and in this way; you can donate blood while sitting at home.
You will not be getting exposed to any difficulty. You won’t have to step off the house. But you will still be helping people. You will still be saving lives. And there is nothing greater than that.
This might look normal to you but this means a lot to children who depend on these blood transfusions. We cannot finish this pandemic, but we can provide hope to people who need it. We can finish other prevailing problems due to it. Small steps always lead to bigger achievements. Together, we can address such situations at our convenience and provide a better future to everyone in Pakistan. We can serve as an example for the whole word when it comes to being human.
