Renowned oncologist and president of Omair Sana Foundation (OSF) Dr Kashif Ansari said that OSF had constituted a five-member think-tank to plan a strategy to make government implement the Thalassemia Prevention Bill 2014. "Government must adopt needed measures to implement Thalassemia Prevention Bill 2014 in order to eradicate Thalassemia from our society," he urged speaking to media persons in connection with Thalassemia awareness campaign, at the OSF office in Gulshan-e-Iqbal. Dr Saqib Ansari, Dr Ambreen, Obaid Hashmi and others were also present.

OSF president said OSF would conduct 100,000 Thalassemia screenings and set-up two Thalassemia Centres if matched by government. Dr Kashif said that loss of two children with a genetic disorder prompted them to establish Omair Sana Foundation so that children from poor strata could get treatment on time. He said that only mother knows the agony of losing her child.

"We have resolved to create more awareness in 2017. If pre-marital thalassemia test starts, eradication is not far away," he said, vowing that efforts to make government implement the bill speedily alongside public awareness campaign would be intensified in this year. He said that Pakistani cricket players are Thalassemia brand ambassadors.

He said that some actors will be part of Thalassaemia team that will play match to create awareness among the masses. He said he talked to the Pakistan Cricket Board for a team in the PSL as well, who will wear shirts with voluntary blood donation slogans for public awareness. "We are already working on mass screening and Karachi University will be Thalassemia screened university in 2020; we are also working with Urdu and Hamdard University in this connection," he said.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2017