• Home
• /
• Healthcare

Thalassemia screening for toddlers from July 1

All Emirati toddlers will now be screened for thalassemia, an inherited genetic blood disorder that affects at least one in 12 nationals in the UAE.

The nationwide programme that begins on July 1 aims at reducing the occurrence of thalassemia in the UAE by up to 50 per cent in the next five years through dissemination of information, guidance and treatment.

Initially, only Emiratis will be eligible for the UAE Health Ministry’s ‘Children’s Thalassemia Early Screening Programme’ which may also include expatriates at a later stage. Testing for the disorder will be done through a blood test for one-year-olds when they are due for their first vaccination at the ministry’s primary healthcare centres, explained Dr Hajar Al Hosani, Director of the Central Administration for Maternity and Childhood.

“This is a pilot progamme that will be expanded in the future,” she hoped.

The ministry’s existing preventive programme provides premarital testing and consultation for the disorder for both partners before marriage because if two carriers have children, the likelihood of each child developing the disease is 25 per cent more. However, experts believe that testing at that stage is not very helpful.

“That is why we want to start really early on since this will help us develop interventional programmes,” she said.

Dr Al Hosani said the programme will also prevent complications for positive cases in the future. “In case a child is found to be thalassemic, we will provide consultation for the entire family so that disease-related complications can be reduced for the patient in his/her coming years,” she explained.

Thalassaemia is an inherited blood disorder in which the body makes an abnormal form of haemoglobin, the protein in red blood cells that carries oxygen. This results in excessive destruction of red blood cells leading to anaemia. Therefore, the majority of patients have to undergo regular blood transfusions and get rid of the (extra) iron in their bodies.

asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com