By Carol Aloysius

World Thalassaemia Day- May 8

The current status of Thalassaemia in Sri Lanka and the world was the subject of a most enlightening seminar organised by the Health Education Bureau this week. Consultant Paediatrician Prof. S.P. Lamabadusooriya, noted that, globally, there are around 80-90 million carriers of B-Thalassaemia, with around 60,000-70,000 B-Thalaessaemia Major babies born each year.

In Sri Lanka, B-Thalaessaemia carriers amounted to only 2.2% of the population, with approximately 2,000 patients suffering from Beta Thalassemia Major and 1,000 with HbE Thalaessemia. If these patients are not treated in time, they will die before the age of 7 or 8 years. If treated, they can live up to 25 years and more”, he observed.

Clinical manifestations of the disease are usually detected in infancy, when the baby becomes tired while being breastfed, develops abdominal distention, or fails to grow. Consultant Paediatrician, University of Peradenya, Dr R.M. Mudiyanse empahsised that, the only cause for Thalaessaemia was when two people who were carriers of the disease married and produced a baby. “Invariably, that baby would be a Thalassaemia baby. If, on the other hand, only one of the parents was a carrier, none of the children will get the disease”, he stressed. Based on this fact, he emphasised the importance of preventing such high risk marriages. One way to do this would be to introduce voluntary screening among teenagers and adolescents, and especially, among couples, before they decide to get married, a method which had been tried out successfully in certain countries such as Palestine and Iran, he suggested. Other preventive methods would be to raise awareness among the public in general, and teenagers and adolescents in particular. Imparting this message to all young people before marriage, could minimise the birth of Thalassaemia babies in the country, he pointed out. “My message to the media is; ‘Help Thalaessaemia carriers to be aware that, if two carriers get married and have a baby, the baby will be a Thalaessaemia baby. They should be made aware that such babies need constant blood transfusions and Chelation therapy, to remove the toxic iron that comes from frequent blood transfusions, which, if not given, will cause premature death of the patients. Besides, such treatment involves huge expense- both for the State and for the parents. If it is not given, the child can have liver damage, cardiac arrest and diabetes among other serious illnesses. The only answer is for two Thalassaemia carriers to break off a relationship leading to marriage and the birth of a child”, he stressed.

New Dengue Breeding Act

The presenting of the new Dengue Breeding Act in Parliament on May 5 will be welcomed as a step in the right direction.

Dengue, which has now reached epidemic proportions, and causing much concern among medical authorities, can be prevented by simply cleaning our backyards and neighborhoods of all the rubbish we see everyday, so that, the Dengue carrying vector cannot find any breeding places.

This long overdue piece of legislation, we hope, will be passed soon. When that happens, it will give the Health Ministry the legal clout to take punitive action against all polluters of the environment. It will also enhance the fines from a ridiculously low Rs 50, under the existing regulations, to a high of Rs 25,000 as maximum punishment. This, we hope, will suffice as a deterrent to all those who pollute the environment.

Breakdown of Thermal Scanners at BIA

It was disturbing to read in a local daily paper that all the Thermal Scanners, used to identify passengers with flu like symptoms, had broken down. However, the good news is that, the Health Ministry has already got down a stock of necessary drugs, equipment and masks to fight this deadly disease, and also put in place a support system in the main hospitals, should the disease enter this country.

Meanwhile, the WHO has reported that at least four laboratories in the UK, Canada and the US are working on a seed virus that is a precursor to a future vaccine against the flu.

Soaring teenage pregnancies

The case of a 14-year-old girl, who had delivered a baby, allegedly, without being aware she was pregnant, in the public lavatory of the Colombo National Hospital, which was spotlighted in a recent newspaper, has once again raised the important issue of the growing number of teenage pregnancies in our country.

Approximately 10.5% of the total number of pregnancies in Sri Lanka every year are teenage pregnancies, a recent study has found. The findings, by a Sociology Lecturer at the Open University, doing a study of teenage pregancies in Sri Lanka during the period 2003-2008 in the Colombo Municipal Area, cited in a recent daily newspaper, states that, most of the pregnancies were among underprivileged girls from the urban slums in Modera, Aluthmawatha, New Bazaar and Mattakkuliya.

Along with this study, we had Fisheries Minister Felix Perera telling Parliament, Tuesday, that a high incidence of teenage pregnancies had been found among the IDPs who arrived from the ‘Safe Zone’. The Minister has been reported to have said that, during his recent visit to Omanthai, he had found a large number of teenage girls pregnant out of wedlock, the latter claiming that, they had been impregnated by the terrorists, and asked to hand over their children, when they reached their teen years.

The more common reasons cited for this proliferation of teenage pregnancies, however, are lack of awareness of the basic facts of life, including sexual intercourse and its repercussions, and how to avoid pregnancy. Sexual abuse has been cited as another cause, with most of the abusers being close relatives of the girls themselves, following the exodus of mothers to the Middle East, leaving their daughters in the charge of husbands or relatives.

The biggest health hazards of teenage pregnancies is that, they run the risk of birth complications, miscarriages, and deliver low weight babies. That most of these young mothers do not make use of the usual delivery system of institutionalised births, and have never attended a pregnancy clinic, or had any advice on pre-natal or post natal care, freely available to them, is a tragic reality. More Reproductive Health in schools and in youth clubs, may be one way to educate them.

Smoking can stunt growth

A Canadian study has found that smoking cigarettes can stunt teenage boys’ growth. The study published online on March 17 in the journal Annals of Epidemiology found that, teenage boys, who smoke are, on an average are 2.54 cms shorter than non smokers.