World Thalassemia Day:
Every year, May 8th is celebrated as World Thalassemia Day.
- The theme for World Thalassemia Day 2022 is, “Be Aware. Share. Care: Working with the global community as one to improve Thalassemia knowledge”.
- The event was first organised by the Thalassemia International Federation (TIF) in 1994, in memory of George Englezos, the son of Thalassemia International Federation (TIF) founder, who lost his life to the Thalassemia. Since then, the day is observed every year on May 8th.
- World Thalassemia Day aims to create awareness about Thalassemia and support patients, their families and health care workers with information to combat it.
- Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder passed to a child by either of the parents.
- Thalassemia causes defective red blood cell production leading to low haemoglobin and such patients require lifelong blood transfusion to cope with their lives.
- The defective red blood cells also cause a lot of problems, such as anaemia, shortness of breath, extreme fatigue, and irregular heartbeats.
- When there is not enough haemoglobin, the body’s red blood cells don’t function properly, which causes anaemia.
