Health ministry marks World Thalassemia Day in Kabul

The Ministry of Public and Health (MoPH) marked World Thalassemia Day on Monday in Kabul and said they are committed to standardizing health services throughout the country and are trying to establish more diagnostic centers for this disease.

According to MoPH officials, more than 12,000 people suffer from the disease in the country.

“Over the past year, 12,103 thalassemia patients have been referred to the central blood bank and are registered with us,” said Mohammad Nasser Sadiq, director of the Central Blood Bank.

Mohammad Nabi, an Afghan cricket player, also spoke at the event and said he intends to establish a cancer treatment center in the country in cooperation with the Ministry of Public Health. He said the facility will also treat thalassemia patients.

“Thalassemia is a hereditary disease that is transmitted from parents to their children,” said a doctor at the event.

One and a half percent of people around the world suffer from this disease, according to reports.

Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that causes a person’s body to have less hemoglobin than normal. Hemoglobin enables red blood cells to carry oxygen.