Thalassaemia is a hereditary disease of the children who are incapable of forming their own blood and have to live on “borrowed blood” throughout their miserable life. Each child requires a bottle of blood every month to keep him alive. This excessive quantity of blood, when decomposed by the body, results in accumulation of huge quantities of iron, which if not removed, tends to deposit on the vital organs of body and destroy them. Unfortunately this ailment has been spreading unrecognized in Pakistan and no specific efforts to treat and eradicate it have been formulated either in the Government or private sector.

Thalassaemia is quietly but rapidly spreading in Pakistan. It is estimated that 5 to 8% of the population is suffering from Thalassaemia Minor (Thalassaemia carrier) who are leading a normal life and are not aware of their hidden malady, and are playing an important role in the spread of the disease to the next generation. This results in adding about 5 to 8 thousand fresh cases of Thalassaemia Major every year to the existing over 100,000 patients in the country. The population of the carriers also increases proportionally. This vicious cycle must be broken before the disease assumes unmanageable proportions.