Only one thalassaemia case reported in Dubai last year

Dubai - It is the high quality of care for patients that has led to the drop in the mortality of patients suffering from thalassaemia.

Effective awareness programmes and compulsory pre-marital screening have led to a decrease in the number of thalassaemia cases in Dubai with only one beta thalassaemia major reported in 2017 and one mortality in the same year.
In an interview with Khaleej Times, Dr Ahmed bin Kalban, CEO of Specialised Healthcare Services Sector at the Dubai Health Authority (DHA), said that seven cases had been reported from other emirates.
He was talking about the role of the Specialised Healthcare Services Sector, which is responsible for planning, supervising and monitoring the DHA's specialised centres and developing their preventive, rehabilitation and treatment services to enhance customer's treatment journey.
"The rate of thalassaemia has dropped over the past three years," he said, referring to the role played by the Thalassaemia Centre in Dubai.
"It is the high quality of care for patients that has led to the drop in the mortality of patients suffering from thalassaemia," he said.
The DHA's Specialised Healthcare Services Sector currently includes six specialised healthcare centres: Thalassaemia Centre, Dubai Physiotherapy & Rehabilitation Centre, Dubai Cord and Blood Research Centre, Dubai Diabetes Centre, Dubai Gynaecology & Fertility Centre and the Complimentary Centre.
The DHA also plans to open five new speciality centres to meet the growing demand for specialised services in Dubai, said Dr Kalban.
Talking about the Thalassaemia Centre, Dr Kalban said that it was the first specialised centre in the Middle East.
Established in 1989 in the premises of Latifa hospital, it served around 2,000 patients, both Emiratis and expatriates, free of charge. The current building was inaugurated in 1995 in response to the growing demand and increasing number of patients.
The centre has gained international recognition through the International Thalassaemia Association and, the World Health Organisation (WHO) both of which consider the centre as one of the best in the world considering the quality of the services, he said.
"The centre has played a major role in reducing the number of new cases in Dubai through effective awareness programme to the UAE community," said Dr Kalban.
"Also, the high quality of care for patients lead to marked drop in the mortality among patients suffering from thalassaemia," he said.
In 2017, the centre had one case of beta thalassaemia major form Dubai and seven cases from other emirates. Total annual visits in 2017 was 8,592 to both the day care and clinics.
"In the day care, we have 429 patients, which include 23 transfusion dependents who had bone marrow transplant in 2017 to cure their disease," said Dr Kalban.
He also said that no mortality was reported in transfusion dependent thalassaemia patients in years with one case in 2017 and no case in 2018.
"The mortality was a sickle cell disease patient in 2017," he said, adding that the centre held a total of 71 disease awareness activities in 2017.
In 2013, eight patients out of 438 patients (on regular blood transfusion) died from thalassaemia and in 2014, six out of 447 patients died. In 2015 the three deaths out of 436 patients were recorded while in 2016 and 2017, only one patient each died out of around 425 patients.
Dubai Cord and Blood Research Centre
Talking about the Dubai Cord and Blood Research Centre, Dr Ahmed bin Kalban, CEO of Specialised Healthcare Services Sector at the Dubai Health Authority, said that it currently stores more than 3,000 stem cells that have been collected over the past 20 years.
"This centre is the only governmental centre doing the histocompatibility testing for transplant patients in Dubai," he explained.
"The centre has implemented the high resolution HLA typing for utmost precision and accuracy of the histocompatibility testing, which will hopefully reduce the cost of sending the patient abroad for the same test," he said.
The centre is also currently studying the possibility of performing the bone marrow transplant in the country in collaboration and partnership with Dubai Hospital Oncology department.
"The centre also works to attract and register pregnant mothers to donate their umbilical cord blood for its use in stem cells transplantation," he added.
asmaalizain@khaleejtimes.com