Kurdistan
Doctors conduct tests at the Erbil Thalassemia Center, February 7, 2023. Photo: Erbil Thalassemia Center/Facebook
ERBIL, Kurdistan Region – The number of Thalassemia cases across the Kurdistan Region has increased by approximately 38 percent over the past decade, Rudaw has learned.
Data collected by Rudaw from the Region’s health authorities showed that the number of registered Thalassemia cases in Erbil currently stands at 950. In 2014, the number of Thalassemia patients stood at 760, as confirmed by the Erbil Thalassemia Center.
Meanwhile, Kocher Karim, the Director of the Thalassemia Society in Sulaimani, told Rudaw on Thursday that there are currently 1,387 registered patients in the province, up from 1,074 in 2014.
For his part, Hassan Aswad, Director of the Zhin Cancer and Thalassemia Center in Duhok, on Thursday confirmed to Rudaw that they are 819 registered Thalassemia patients in the province, while that number stood at 450 in 2014.
Thalassemia is a group of inherited blood disorders that impair the body’s ability to produce hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying component of red blood cells. The condition leads to varying degrees of anemia, often requiring lifelong medical management.
There are two main types: alpha Thalassemia, caused by mutations affecting the alpha globin chain, and Beta Thalassemia, caused by mutations affecting the beta globin chain, and ranging in severity from Thalassemia minor (mild) to Thalassemia major (severe).
Treatment typically includes regular blood transfusions, iron chelation therapy, and, in some cases, stem cell or bone marrow transplants. Thalassemia is inherited in an autosomal recessive pattern, meaning both parents must be carriers for a child to inherit the disease.
Hematology specialists emphasize that premarital screening is the most effective strategy for preventing the spread of Thalassemia. They warn against marriages between two carriers or two individuals with the disease, which carry a high risk of passing it on to offspring.
A study published in the Iraqi Journal of Hematology analyzed data from the Erbil Thalassemia Center up to the end of 2020. The findings revealed an increase in the prevalence of Thalassemia syndromes from 30.8 per 100,000 individuals in 2015 to 37.3 per 100,000 in 2020.
The study also found that Thalassemia major accounted for 78.71 percent of all hemoglobinopathy cases.
In addition to Thalassemia, the study reported a growing incidence of other hemoglobin disorders, including sickle cell disease.
Further genetic research has shown that beta Thalassemia is the most common hemoglobinopathy in the region, with carrier rates ranging from 3.7 percent to 6.9 percent. Alpha-Thalassemia carriers are less frequent (0.03 percent to 1.22 percent), while the sickle cell gene is present in about 0.06 percent to 1.2 percent of the Region’s population.
Both the data obtained by Rudaw and the findings of the Iraqi Journal of Hematology point to a growing public health concern regarding Thalassemia in the Kurdistan Region, with consistent increases in both prevalence rates and total patient counts.
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