In a decision that could prove a major sigh of relief for hemophilia patients, the Government Medical College (GMC) Srinagar is planning to start prophylactic treatment for these patients, in a bid to prevent disabilities and life threatening bleeding among them.
The treatment cost will be borne from funds provided underNational Health Mission (NHM), GMC Principal, Prof Kaiser Ahmed Koul said.
He said the College’s Hemophilia Day Care Center, the onlysuch center in Kashmir where treatment for patients suffering from the bleedingdisorder is available, will be funded under the NHM soon.
This will pave way for providing prophylactic (preventive)treatment to the patients. “Now we will be giving them Factors (treatmentinjection) based on their need to prevent bleeding episodes,” he said.
Doctors believe the decision will go a long way inpreventing disabilities. It will be useful for children, who can benefit a lotas they will have a disability free life.
Hemophilia causes spontaneous bleeding in the patient andthis bleeding can cause joint deformity and risk lives.
Most patients suffering from hemophilia in Kashmir areafflicted with deformities owing to non-availability of clotting factors anddrugs that help in stopping the bleeding.
In the past, many deaths have been reported which could havebeen prevented with timely medical intervention and factor injections.
The factors are very costly and often out of financial reachof patients while Government funding has been inadequate and insufficient inthe past to keep a regular supply of factors available at the GMC.
Last week, a three year old boy Furqan diagnosed withhemophilia suffered a spontaneous nose bleeding in middle of the night, hisparents said.
Owing to delay in administering of factor injection, Furqanlost so much blood that he required a transfusion, they said.
“Such problems would not arise now,” Prof Koul said.
Children like Furqan will get timely factor injections thatwould prevent such life threatening bleedings, he said.
Belonging to an underprivileged class, most of thehemophilia patients cannot buy clotting factor in times of crisis.
When a bleeding episode takes place, they are dependent onsupply of the factor from Hemophilia Daycare Center.
In 2012, the High Court observed that failure to ensureappropriate treatment to hemophilia patients was “injustice” and “any suchlapse would result in fixing responsibility” on an officer who had committedlapse.