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.
|
