To mark the International Thalassemia Day on Friday, filters, provided by Maa Aasara, were handed over to parents of children suffering from thalassemia at a programme organised by the Indian Red Cross Society at its blood bank here.
The World Red Cross Day was also celebrated by the blood bank by organising a camp in which 40 persons donated blood.
Thalassemia is the abnormal formation of haemoglobin (which is a protein in the red blood cells carrying oxygen) in blood resulting in improper transport of oxygen and destruction of red blood cells.
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This leads to anaemia and sometimes death. Thalassemia is caused due to genetic disorder.
The filters are useful to eliminate the iron content in the blood that is frequently, once in three or four weeks, transfused to a thalassemia child. “When one unit of blood is transfused, 250 mg of iron also enters the body and this iron gets deposited in the heart, liver, kidneys and any organ. The thalassemic child should not have that much load of iron in its body,” HoD of Paediatrics of Andhra Medical College and KGH and secretary of district unit of the Indian Red Cross Society P. Venugopal explained.
Along with regular transfusion of blood the child also has to take iron chelating agents (which remove iron). But these are expensive and not available in government hospitals.
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Malathi Dechiraju, CEO of Maa Aaasara of Hyderabad Malathi Dechiraju who arranged the filters, said the organisation was supported by a group of 1,500 members of Facebook.