Guyana Hemophilia Society officially open its doors to the public

DPI, GUYANA, Wednesday, April 18, 2018

The Guyana Hemophilia Society (GHS) was officially launched on Tuesday World Hemophilia Day with the goal of highlighting the struggles of persons living with the blood disease in the country.

Hemophilia is a medical condition, whereby the ability of the blood to clot is severely reduced, causing the sufferer to bleed from even a slight injury.

Delivering the feature remarks at the opening ceremony at the National Library Conference Hall, Minister within Ministry of Public Health Dr. Karen Cummings pledged the ministry’s support and commitment towards the organisation’s mission.

“We will continue to work assiduously with the GHS to do the following; to increase public awareness of Hemophilia, make available diagnostic capabilities at the health facilities in Guyana especially at the Georgetown Public Hospital Corporation (GPHC), establish and distribute the necessary protocols and standard treatment guidelines for the management of the hemophilia patients who are present at public medical facilities,” Minister Cummings stated.

The Minister further assured that “there will be appropriate health options available to haemophilia patients in Guyana, including the establishment of a stronger network with the National Blood Bank.”

The GHS is the first of its kind in the country. It establishment was formally established in 2014 and registered in March 2017. The non-profit organsiation was founded through the persistent effort by Hemophiliac Laurence and Lloyd Baksh along with relative Freda Figueria.

Laurence Baksh is the President of the organsiation. He reassured that GHS will advance the interest and welfare of Hemophiliacs, by promoting public awareness and understanding of this disease and its associated complications in Guyana.

Towards this effort, Baksh explained that the organisation will open a door to local and international support, thus bringing on board persons who can volunteer or provide medical and financial assistance.

The organisation is making efforts to become affiliated with the World Federation of Haemophilia (WFH) for support and provision of necessary guidelines and treatment, he said.

Hemophilia is typically caused by a hereditary lack of a coagulation factor, most often Factor 8. This causes prolonged bleeding to occur in the muscles, soft tissue and joints of the body. Hemophilia is a sex-linked disorder of the X Chromosomes that affects the male sex and the females are the carriers. The main symptom is excessive external (on the surface of the body) or internal (inside the body) bleeding.

The World Federation of Hemophilia stated in a conference recently that with a Guyana’s population of 755,000 person, an average of 75 persons would be living with Hemophilia, however because of the lack of awareness only five persons are currently known due to their definitive diagnosis.

Also attending the launch were, Dr. Pedro Lucas, Director, National Blood Transfusion Services, Dr. Kamela Bemaul, Internal Medicine, O’Neil Atkins, National Director, Pharmacy Services among others.

This year World Hemophilia Day was observed under the theme “Sharing knowledge makes us stronger.”

 

By: Neola Damon