OFF TOPIC - a must read for Omanis

 The Oman Hereditary Blood Disorder Association wants to reduce the 58% of current population affected by blood disease

You probably heard and hopefully attended the drive to raise awareness of the impact of blood disease in the Sultanate which took centre stage in Seeb City Center in the past two days and organised by the Oman Hereditary Blood Disorder Association (OHBDA).

The event aimed at spreading the message on the impact of blood diseases, what they mean for the sufferer and how they can be avoided. With 58% of the Omani national population carrying at least one of the blood disorder genes, the roadshow tried to reach out to as much of its potential audience as possible.

Following the 2-day event the OHBDA today hosted a press conference to conclude the awareness drive and give members of the media an opportunity to hear more about the painful and sometimes fatal conditions.

The following are some extracts of the conference:

“Up to 160 babies per year in the Sultanate are born with sickle cell disease while 15 are born with Thalassemia, which proves the severity of this problem,” said Thuraya bint Saif bin Sultan Al-Hosni, Vice-president of the OHBDA.  “One of our overall objectives is to encourage pre-marriage genetic screening to reduce the number of new babies inflicted with these life threatening and terrible diseases.  By holding our roadshows we want to help raise awareness and hopefully prompt young couples to consider this screening before starting a family.”

For sufferers of all ages, the OHBDA is geared up to offer advice, workshops and support during difficult times, while helping them overcome the various obstacles the patients may face in their day to day lives.

The OHBDA is made up of volunteers (really great people) who are either sufferers, relatives of sufferers or medical specialists in this field, meaning that they are all close to the cause and passionate about helping.  

“If we can help sufferers by providing them with more information on how to cope with their condition, keep them abreast of new medical treatments and give them emotional support during the painful periods, then we are going some way to fight this terrible yet avoidable condition,” added Thuraya.

The OHBDA can be contacted through Facebook, its blog or by calling the number 95547363. 

And lastly, if you don't carry any diseases and you don't know anyone who carries them  then you can still be useful by making a contribution to the Association so that more people can be helped!