International Thalassemia Day | 13 May 2024

Source: PIB

Recently, International Thalassemia Day was celebrated on 8^th May, to unite stakeholders to fight thalassemia through prevention, awareness, early diagnosis, and ensuring quality care for patients.

• The 2024 theme, "Empowering Lives, Embracing Progress: Equitable and Accessible Thalassemia Treatment for All," emphasizes on equality in access to comprehensive care.
• The need for integration of compulsory Thalassemia testing into the Reproductive and Child Health (RCH) program as a means to significantly alleviate the burden of Thalassemia was promoted during the celebration.
  • RCH programme is a comprehensive flagship programme launched in 2005, under the umbrella of the National Health Mission (NHM) to deliver the RCH targets for the reduction of maternal and infant mortality and total fertility rates.
• The event emphasized that there are nearly 1 lakh Thalassemia patients in India, with around 10,000 new cases being reported annually. It is crucial to raise widespread awareness about Thalassemia among the general population.

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