Exclusive haemophilia clinic opened

Exclusive haemophilia clinic opened

Staff Reporter
TIRUCHI: An exclusive outpatient clinic for treating Haemophilia patients was opened at the Annal Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital earlier this week.

The opening of the clinic was in keeping with the State Government's budgetary allocation for creating the facility in all medical college hospitals. The clinic will be kept open between 10 a.m. and 12 p.m.on all Wednesdays.

A rare inherited bleeding disorder, haemophilia is not curable but treatable and manageable through careful medication and nursing. Haemophilia, a disease that does not let blood to clot at times of injuries and causes severe bleeding, has been a major health concern in India. Almost 20 per cent of the total haemophiliacs in the world are Indians, medical journals say.

Patients may have easy bruisability, spontaneous bleeding into muscles and joints — especially the knees, elbows, and ankles — bleeding for a long time after being cut and unexpected bleeding at surgery. The hereditary disorder mainly affects males.

According to medical statistics, there are about one lakh haemophilia patients in the country. But only 10 per cent of the patients have been diagnosed so far. About 400 haemophilia patients receive treatment at the Annal Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital, according to M.A. Aleem, Professor and Head, Department of Neurology, and Vice-Principal, KAPV Government Medical College.

The treatment that involves injecting the missing clotting factor into the blood is costly and hence the government decided to reach out to the patients better through the exclusive clinics, Dr. Aleem said.

The clinic was inaugurated by R. Gunasekaran, Immediate Tamil Nadu fast president of Indian Medical Association in the presence of S. Paneerselvam, Medical Superintendent, Annal Gandhi Memorial Government Hospital.

There are outpatient clinics for Geriatrics, Neurology, Cardiology, Nephrology, Hypertension and Paediatric Surgery in the hospital