Sindh has 27 thalassaemia centres, high court told

Twenty-seven thalassaemia centres are operating in 13 districts of the province, the additional health secretary informed the Sindh High Court (SHC) on Tuesday.

Filing comments on a petition about setting up medical centres for thalassaemia patients in Thatta district, the additional health secretary said that 27 thalassaemia centres are operating across the province under public-private partnership mode.

He said that thalassaemia centres were set up in four Karachi districts, and in Hyderabad, Badin, Jamshoro, Tando Allahyar, Umerkot, Benazirabad, Sukkur, Larkana and Jacobabad. Health care programmes for thalassaemia patients are being conducted through public and private funds, he added.

The petitioner’s counsel said that the additional deputy commissioner had mentioned the construction of a building for a thalassaemia and trauma centre, but the status of the project is yet to be ascertained.

The provincial law officer sought time to call a report from the additional DC on the project’s completion. The SHC’s division bench headed by Justice Mohammad Ali Mazhar directed the law officer to submit the additional DC’s reply by February 28.

Petitioners Mohammad Muzaffar and Mumtaz Ali said that over a thousand patients, including their own children, are thalassaemia patients, but there are no medical centres in their district to treatment them.

They said that thalassaemia major patients need regular blood transfusions and folate supplements, but neither of these facilities is available in their district, which is why the patients are forced to travel all the way to Karachi to seek treatment, which not only tires them physically but also increases their financial burden. The petitioners requested that the court direct the government to set up emergency camps until a proper centre is established.