Financial Burden of Treatment of Transfusion Dependent Thalassemia

Excerpt

In view of a lack of a comprehensive nationwide thalassemia control program in the country, children with thalassemia major continue to be born. The birth of a child with thalassemia major is a life changing experience for a family. The medical, financial, and psychosocial burden is enormous and often life-long. Having said that, the life-span and quality of life of a patient with thalassemia is continuing to improve with improved transfusion support, better options for diagnosis of iron-load and chelation, and increasing availability of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplant (HSCT) [1‐3]. However, the optimal treatment for thalassemia is typically deliverable to the small proportion of children hailing from families that are financially empowered and able to access care at the limited thalassemia day care centers in the country. …