Government takes bold steps to fight blood disorder

Star: KUNDASANG: Health authorities are taking bold measures to combat thalassaemia by urging couples who carry the faulty gene either not to marry or have children.
Health Minister Datuk Seri Dr Chua Soi Lek said battling the hereditary disease on all fronts began with discouraging couples who are both thalassaemia gene carriers from getting married, as there was a high risk of their children contracting the gene.
“Love is blind, (but) sometimes we cannot be blind to the risks involved, so it is important that such couples are properly counselled,” he said when launching the national-level International Thalassaemia Day.
Dr Chua said that if such couples decided to go ahead with the marriage, then the authorities would advise them to avoid having children.
In cases where a child is conceived, the authorities would recommend abortion, although a final decision lay with the couple themselves, taking into consideration their religious practices, he added.
Malaysia currently has 800,000 to 1.2 million thalassaemia carriers nationwide.
Dr Chua said his ministry was also targeting secondary schoolchildren for thalassaemia screening, as well as helping identified carriers not to be discriminated against.
Thalassaemia is a genetic disorder which destroys red blood cells. While some are only carriers of the gene, those affected by the disease known as “thalassaemia major” have to undergo regular blood transfusions to replace damaged red blood cells at least once a month.
But the blood transfusion causes high levels of iron deposits to build up in their heart and kidneys, which could lead to system failure within 10 years.
Dr Chua said a gelatine agent was introduced through an infusion pump to remove the iron deposits in the body.
“The patients will go through a normal life but there is a lot of suffering,” he said.