Thousands of children suffer from Thalassemia
Posted on May 8th, 2025
Courtesy The Daily Mirror
Health authorities have sounded the alarm over the growing burden of Thalassemia in Sri Lanka, with thousands of children affected and hundreds of thousands unknowingly carrying the gene for the disorder.
Thalassemia is a hereditary blood disorder that affects the body’s ability to produce healthy red blood cells
Speaking at a press conference held in conjunction with World Thalassemia Day, Specialist Dr. Samiddhi Samarakoon, Director of the Non-communicable Diseases Unit, revealed that 40 to 50 newborns are diagnosed with the condition each year in Sri Lanka.
Dr. Samarakoon also disclosed that approximately 500,000 people in the country are carriers of one of the defective genes responsible for the disorder, highlighting the urgent need for increased awareness and preventive strategies.
World Thalassemia Day, observed annually on May 8, is being marked this year under the theme *Together for Thalassaemia: Uniting Communities, Prioritizing Patients.”