In collaboration with the Ministry of Health, Novartis organised a Haematology Conference recently to help raise awareness about the disease and discuss new breakthroughs in Iron Overload treatment. The conference, held at Hormuz Grand Hotel, looked at best practice for doctors, such as promoting pre-marital screenings, preparing parents of children with thalassemia on the management of the disorder, as well as informing patients that they can have a normal life with proper management of the disease, in addition to honing the latest advancements on its treatment. 
According to the Ministry of Health, 75 percent of patients visiting healthcare centres have blood-inherited disorders such as sickle cell disease, thalassemia and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency. In addition, several studies have been conducted by prominent hematologists in the Sultanate of Oman which concluded that a range from 2.2 percent to 4 percent of the Omani population carriers the beta-thalassemia.
Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder, in which the body makes an abnormal form of haemoglobin. Haemoglobin is the protein molecule in red blood cells that carries oxygen. The mainstay of care for patients with thalassemia is regular blood transfusions, which improve the anaemia and suppress the complications of thalassemia such as serious growth, skeletal, and neurological complications. However, such methods increase iron concentrations in the body leading to detrimental consequences.
To help thalassemia patients suffering from iron overload, Novartis launched a new ground-breaking treatment, a film-coated tablet, which is easy to administer, as opposed to its
predecessor, which was an injectable. With the launch of the film-coated tablet, Novartis is providing patients not only with the efficacy to avoid iron overload complications, but also the convenience of administration and less bothersome adverse events. This will certainly help in increasing patients’ compliance to their medication translating into a higher efficacy.
Important initiatives taken by the Ministry of Health, such as promoting pre-marital screening to check for carrier state is crucial in raising awareness on thalassemia and its consequences as well as preparing parents of children with thalassemia on the management of the disorder. In Oman, patients with blood disorders have many options to receive medical care from highly qualified doctors and medical experts.
Today, a diagnosis of thalassemia does not mean the end of patients’ normal lives. With proper management and optimal chelation patients are able to avoid the consequences of their blood disorders. Focusing on improving patients’ quality of life and taking a holistic approach to the management of thalassemia will result in a positive outcome for patients with thalassemia.
