This section of the website will bring you stories from Sri Lanka through words and images. Written by Sri Lankan staff, patients, as well as Hemolgobal's network of foreign friends Field News will give insight into the country and how thalassemia is treated there.
RECENT NEWS
Jackelyn shares her trip as a student helping at the National Thalassemia Centre in Kurunegala with Hemoglobal
My name is Jackelyn and I have been working with Hemoglobal since June 2010, helping with various research projects and fundraising initiatives. I had the opportunity to travel to Sri Lanka at the beginning of October 2011 to work alongside Dr. Nancy Olivieri, Sir Professor David Weatherall and Dr. Angela Allen at the National Thalassemia Centre in Kurunegala. As someone pursuing a career in medicine, I found the trip a great learning experience as I gained an understanding of the need for medical care and the difference that Hemoglobal's work has made over the past 15 years. Click here for the full article.
Sir David Weatherall wins top US medical prize for a career that has improved care for many 1000s in developing world
Sir David Weatherall of Oxford University has been awarded a Lasker Award, the most significant US prize for medical research with many past award winners subsequently going on to receive Nobel prizes. He is the only person outside America to win the award this year. Click here to view his interview or click here for the full article.
Hemoglobal Investigators have received a Canadian Institues of Health Research (CIHR) grant for their Asia-Canada Thalassemia Network: Project Bangladesh.
This project will aim to apply knowledge gained in Sri Lanka to characterize at the molecular and clinical level the Bangladeshi thalassemia patient population. Collaborations will be established with the Dhaka Shishu Hospital Thalassemia Center in Bangladesh.
Landmark Agreement launched between Ministry of Health, Sri Lanka and Hemoglobal to help children throughout Asia
A Memorandum of Understanding was signed in Colombo on September 4, 2006 between the Ministry of Healthcare and Nutrition of the Government of Sri Lanka under the Honourable Nimal Siripla De Silva and Hemoglobal signaled the commitment to improved thalassemia care, treatment, screening and education.
This Memorandum of Understanding provides a framework for both parties to work towards priorities expressed by the World Health Organization in accordance with its Declaration dated May 29, 2006 acknowledging thalassemia as ?an unrecognized priority in public health.? Throughout Asia, thalassemia will soon present a burden of disease that is comparable to that imposed by malaria.[1]
The signing of the Memorandum of Understanding may be seen as a model of cooperation for thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder, which is the most common single gene disorder in the world, and one that disproportionately affects children in emerging countries. This Memorandum of Understanding unites a motivated Ministry of Health and experts from Hemoglobal in a common cause: "Saving lives...One Child at a time" - the lives of children affected by thalassemia.
[1] Weatherall, D.J., Akinyanju, O., Fucharoen, S., Olivieri, N., & Musgrove, P. (2006). Chapter 34: Inherited Disorders of Hemoglobin. In Disease Control Priorities in Developing Countries Second Edition (pp. 663-680). World Bank and Fogarty.
