UNICEF: 50,000 cases of thalassemia recorded in Yemen

Quoted from YPA, UNICEF on Wednesday revealed that 50,000 cases of thalassemia have been reported in Yemen.

“In Yemen every year, 700 new cases of thalassemia patients are diagnosed,” the UNICEF said in a report published Wednesday.

According to the report, so far, 50,000 cases of thalassemia have been recorded in Yemen, which is suffering from a significant deterioration in the health sector, while access to optimal treatment for thalassemia is rare.

“Today, 1991, active surveillance sites are spread across Yemen to detect and report 28 diseases of severe ill health, such as cholera, dengue fever, viral hemorrhagic fever, measles, whooping cough and severe paralysis,” the report added

More than 500,000 people around the world are born each year with thalassemia, a genetic disorder of red blood cells that causes hemoglobin to decrease and decrease in number in the body, which hinders the transfer of oxygen throughout the body.