Pre-marriage Thalassemia diagnosis essential: Minister
Social Welfare and Women and Children Affairs Minister AZM Zahid Hossain has said it is essential to diagnose before the marriage whether the male and female are the carrier of thalassemia. “Thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder that affects your body's ability to produce hemoglobin and healthy red blood cells, if both husband and wife would be a carrier of the disease then the children likely to be infected with it”, he said.
The minister said this in a seminar organized by Bangladesh Thalassemia Foundation Hospital marking the ‘World Thalassemia Day-2026’, at Hosaf Tower in Malibagh in the city. He said the government is committed to ensure the healthcare services of the people, and in view of this the social welfare ministry is implementing many social safety net programmes. Social welfare secretary Dr Mohammad Abu Yusuf, Bangladesh Medical University Pro-vice chancellor Prof. M Abul Kalam Azad, Bangladesh Thalassemia Foundation’s chief medical officer Dr Sajia Islam and Dr Humayun Kabir spoke in the seminar while Bangladesh Thalassemia Foundation Chairman Professor Manzur Morshed was in the chair.
The minister said, one in every nine person in our country is Thalassemia carrier. Nearly 8,000 children in the country are being born with Thalassemia disease every year. Highlighting the role of mass media in making people aware about the disease, the minister said the mass media can play active role in this area. Earlier, the minister visited different day-care wards at Bangladesh Thalassemia Foundation Hospital and talked with the patients and inquired about their health.
