ABBOTTABAD, Nov 2: Family screening and genetic counselling can be helpful to reduce the chances and prevalence of thalassaemia disease in the country, say experts during a workshop on clinical management of thalassaemia and pre-natal diagnosis, organised by Thalassaemia Federation of Pakistan with the collaboration of Department of Medical Education, Ayub Medical College, here on Saturday.

Gynaecologists, obstetricians, representatives of NGOs and officials of blood transfusion centres from Abbottabad, Haripur and Mansehra attended the workshop.

The speakers included LtGen (retired) Suhaib Ahmed, consultant haematologist and ex-commandant AFIP, Rawalpindi; Dr Mohammad Idrees, haematologist at Ayub Medical College; Dr Mahmood Alam, head department of paediatrics at Abbottabad International Medical College; Dr Hassan Abbas, project director Safe Blood Transfusion Services Pakistan and Dr Shahid Sultan, principal Ayub Medical College.

They said that blood screening should be made compulsory before marriage and during pregnancy besides general blood tests for thalassaemia.

They said that community health education through public awareness campaigns through media, seminars and debates be made a regular event in the country.

It was proposed that special efforts should be made to collect bloods samples of families where thalassaemia patients existed.

Doctors could be sent through mobile ambulance service and results conducted in the reputed labs, they suggested.

The experts said that there was a need for legislation about tests for the disease before marriage.