Thalassaemia must be prevented
Premarital screening should be mandatory to prevent the genetic disease
Thalassaemia is an inherited disorder that is passed down through parents to offspring and results in inappropriate structure or fewer amounts of red blood cell (RBC) in the body. RBC is mandatory to supply oxygen to about 15 trillion cells of the human body. This genetic disorder causes anaemia because of the destruction of the larger amount of RBC and that is why blood transfusion is most of the time mandatory in a regular interval for thalassaemia patients.
Approximately, 1-5% of the world population are carriers of thalassaemia. When two of such thalassaemia carriers marry and plan to have a baby, there is a one-in-four (25%) chance of having a thalassaemia affected child at every conception while a simple blood test for thalassaemia before marriage or before thinking about the baby will help couples to know if they are carriers or not. If both are non-carriers, they need not be worried about it.