KARACHI - Thalassaemia is a public health problem. It is the most common genetic disorder in the country. The only solution is public awareness through media, emphasising that it is a preventable disease by carrier-detection and avoiding marriages among them, said Pakistan Medical Association Sindh chapter President Dr Samrina Hashmi during her visit to the Fatimid Foundation on Monday. Dr Sabir Memon, Dr Ghulam Nabi Shah Jillani accompanied her.Dr Samrina further revealed that Thalassaemia was a major health problem in Pakistan. It is the most prevalent genetically transmitted blood disorder with a carrier rate of 5-8 percent. Around 5,000 children are diagnosed with Thalassaemia major each year. As the treatment of Thalassaemia is expensive, a prevention program should be initiated in order to reduce the burden of the Thalassaemia patients. The burden of Thalassaemia management in Pakistan is more than 4 percent of the current health-related expenditures of the government. She urged to start awareness program at School, college and University level. Print and Electronic media can play in important role. Thalassaemia should be included in high school curriculum. She was of the view that law for screening program of Thalassaemia should be passed and implemented in order to reduce the number of patients. Coming to prevention program, she said that it required data collection followed by interpretation. In Pakistan, we have promoted enough knowledge about polio, hepatitis and HIV but nothing about has been done about Thalassaemia. There is need to provide the knowledge first to the general public and give them the time to interpret. Screening to identify carriers., genetic counseling and prenatal diagnosis can greatly reduce the rate of birth of affected infants and improve the prognosis of affected patients. Earlier, Dr Sabir Memon and Dr Ghulam Nabi Shah Jillani shared their view on the prevention of Thalassaemia.