The Health Improvement Board of The Council of European Jamaats and The Medical Advisory Board of the World Federation recently carried out Thalassaemia Screening in one Jamaat in UK. The main aim was to determine the presence of the condition of Thalassaemia in individuals.
|
No. of jamaats screened in UK (Birmingham, Essex, Hyderi,Leicester, Leeds, Milton Keynes, Peterborough, Stanmore & Wessex) |
9 |
|
|
No. of people who had Thalassaemia test. |
1501 |
|
|
No. of people whose blood sample was insufficient and need to repeat the test. |
18 |
1% |
|
No. of people who had successful test |
1483 |
99% |
|
No. of people who were too anaemic to have the test (they need Iron supplement before repeating test). |
113 |
8% |
|
No. of people who were not affected by Thalassaemia |
1247 |
84% |
|
No. of people with Thalassaemia Trait. |
123 |
8% |
From the results obtained, it is clear that at least 8% of our community are Thalassaemia carriers, this figure being likely to be around 16% after taking into account individuals who were found to be anaemic. This is a relatively high incidence, and therefore the likelihood of two Thalassaemia carriers getting married to each other is considerably high. It is higher still if the bride and groom are related (cousins). MAB therefore strongly encourages the undertaking of the relevant blood test to exclude the possibilities of Thalassaemia carrier status prior to couples getting engaged.
Jamaats world wide are urged to organise Thalassaemia screening and provide adequate counselling to those found positive.
For further information or assistance, email, mab@world-federation.org