CM inaugurates World Thalassemia Day programme; says Public awareness is important in order to curb Thalassemia disease

Thalassemia is a genetic disease. Public awareness is important in order to curb Thalassemia disease. Only through awareness can such disease be controlled, enunciated Chief Minister Prof (Dr.) Manik Saha after inaugurating a programme on World Thalssemia Day held today at Tripura Institute of Paramedical Science, Agartala. The programme has been organized by Indian Academy of Pediatrics, Tripura in collaboration with National Health Mission, Tripura & Thalassemia Society, Agartala at TIPS, Hapania. This year’s theme is “Be aware. Share. Care: Strengthening Education to bridge the Thalassemia care gap.”

The Chief Minister said, World thalassemia Day is being observed all over the country on 8 May every year. The main objective behind observing the day is to generate awareness on Thalassemia disease He said, it is a blood disorder. Generating public awareness is extremely important to control the disease besides providing advanced treatment to Thalassemia patients.

In this regard, the Chief Minister emphasizes upon getting one’s blood tested before marriage in order to prevent the disease. The Chief Minister added, not just to identify Thalassemia or Haemophilia disease, importance will be given on showing birth certificate in order to prevent child marriage. He said, about 1.5 lakh to 2 lakh people suffer from Thalassemia in India and approx. 5 crore Indians are the carriers of Thalassemia. About 10 to 15 thousand children are suffering from severe cases such as Beta-thalassemia every year.

At present, approx. 383 Thalassemia patients in Tripura are being provided with blood. The Chief Minister said, today’s students are the future of tomorrow. These students will become teachers and important personalities of the society.

They will play a vital role in lessening the number of patients by creating awareness among people regarding Thalssemia He said, it was possible to fight against Covid-19 with strong leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. As compared to other states of the country, Tripura was good in controlling Covid-19. Likewise, the Chief Minister hoped that with everyone’s cooperation, it shall be possible to control Thalassemia and Haemophilia diseases.

The Chief Minister also hoped that the students will take the important role in implementing the slogan of Drug-free Tripura of the government.

Secretary of Health & Family Welfare department Dr. Debashish Basu discussed about Thalassemia disease and its effects. He called upon everyone to come forward in building Thalassemia free Tripura and Thalassemia free World through more public awareness. Director of Tripura Health Services Dr. Subhasish Debbarma said, approx. 42 thousand unit of blood is required every year in the state, among which about 3 thousand unit of blood is needed for Thalassemia patients.

Principal of Tripura Institute of Paramedical Science Prof. (Dr.) Chanda Banerjee, Principal of Nursing Prof. Rita Bhattachejce and Secretary of Thalssemia Society. Agartala Division Sitesh Bhattacharjee also spoke on the occasion, Vote of thanks was delivered by President of Indian Academy of Pediatrics. Tripura Division Dr. Swapna Sinha