A major shortage of blood in thalassemia centers and blood banks is causing problems for the patients as they are being sent back from these centers without any medical treatment. Parents of children suffering from thalassemia are forced to buy blood at high prices from private blood banks.
Muhammad Iqbal, chairman of the Kashif Iqbal Thalassemia Center, informed HTV Stands for (Health Taste and Vitality) that children were provided with blood earlier and a calculated amount of blood was kept for future. However, blood usage has increased due to the humidity and heat in Ramadan, creating the current shortage.
He said that patients from other centers are approaching Kashif Iqbal Thalassemia Center, but the center itself has more than 500 registered cases and cannot cater for any new patients.
“We are facing a lot of problems in providing blood for our registered children”, he said “and are forced to say no to anyone else who approach us.”
Civil Hospital Karachi has 150 registered thalassemia cases. However, unregistered thalassemia patients are not provided with blood by the hospital administration.
More than a 1000 thalassemia patients have been treated at a private hospital and center near Lucky Star for many years, but it stopped operating a few weeks back due to unknown reasons. The registered patients of that hospital are now approaching other centers, but these centers are rejecting any new case due to the shortage.
Thalassemia centers have made an appeal from students and public to donate blood to save the lives of these ailing patients.
