Video

On May 10, Vice-president of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation Leyla Aliyeva visited the Thalassemia Centre.

Health Minister Ogtay Shiraliyev gave information about the treatments carried out to date at the Centre in the framework of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation’s programme “For Life Without Thalassemia”. It was informed that, commissioned into operation in 2009, the Thalassemia Centre is an important health institution in terms of both medical and moral support to those suffering from this disease.

Leyla Aliyeva, talking with children being treated at the Centre, inquired about their treatment process. Children with osteoporosis disease were presented medicines on behalf of the Heydar Aliyev Foundation.

Leyla Aliyeva took interest in the issues necessary for the Centre’s future operation, and said she has always attached particular importance to the issues associated with children’s health.

By commissioning the Thalassemia Centre into operation, a specialized medical institution and a blood bank was created, and development of voluntary blood donation service for providing children suffering from thalassemia with safe and quality blood, enlightenment of the population to prevent dissemination of thalassemia and expansion of cooperation with a number of states struggling against thalassemia were ensured in Azerbaijan.

Until April this year, 2959 people passed dispensary registration at the Thalassemia Centre, and they have been treated according to their degree of illness and provided with medicines. In the daytime hospital of the Centre, 976 patients are transfused packed red blood cells on a regular basis. In the first quarter of the current year, 6273 people applied to the Republican Thalassemia Centre, and 603 out of them came for the first time. 72 out of them were registered for follow-up care. Over the course of three months of the year, 105 patients received in-patient treatment. Operations on bone marrow transplantation were carried out on 51 patients during the year.

Not all of the patients registered have blood fitness and now, only 300-400 out of those registered at the Centre have such fitness. And, as a result of long-term blood transfusion into a number of patients, they have developed some problems in the internals, and after carrying out treatment for some time, a decision is made on whether or not to carry out a bone-marrow operation on them. Cost of the examination of the patients, pre- and after operation procedures are all paid by the state. For the last two years, by medically examining the couples preparing to start a family before registering the marriage, carriers of thalassemia are discovered beforehand, and birth of diseased infants is prevented by this way.