HMC marks World Haemophilia Day with awareness events
IN recognition of World Haemophilia Day, Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC), in collaboration with the Friends of Haemophilia Society, recently hosted a series of awareness and education events for HMC staff, as well as for haemophilia patients and their families. This year, the theme for World Haemophilia Day is ‘Access for All: Prevention of bleeds as the global standard of care’.
World Haemophilia Day provides an ideal opportunity to educate patients and healthcare professionals about the condition, which is an important part of building community support for individuals living with bleeding disorders.
The awareness events for healthcare staff took place at HMC’s Hajar Auditorium at the Medical Education Centre on May 24, while additional events were held at Rixos Gulf Hotel Doha on May 26 and targeted haemophilia patients and their families. Dr Ahmed Abdulaziz Abdelbari, clinical pharmacist at Hamad General Hospital, said the event at Hajar Auditorium was held in the presence of Dr Usama Al Homsi, senior consultant in Medical Oncology and deputy medical director for Clinical Research, Education and Quality at HMC’s National Centre for Cancer Care and Research; Cesar Garrido, president of the World Federation of Haemophilia (WFH); and Rana Saifi, WFH regional manager for the Eastern Mediterranean.
The event also gathered a number of local and international experts who delivered lectures on haemophilia, including Dr Miguel Escobar, professor at McGovern Medical School at the University of Texas Health Science Centre at Houston (UTHealth); Dr Haroon Mann, consultant trauma and orthopaedic surgeon from London; Dr Laim Ferrnough; Dr Hasan Abu Hejleh; and Mohamed Rafique. Also in attendance were a number of physicians and surgeons from HMC’s Departments of Surgery, Orthopaedics, Haematology, and Intensive Care, as well as pharmacists from Hamad General Hospital.
Dr Abdelbari said the lectures focused on strategies to safely perform surgeries on patients with blood disorders. He noted that Qatar’s health system offers state-of-the-art healthcare facilities and equipment, as well as highly experienced care teams, both of which are essential for better health outcomes for patients with haemophilia.
“Haemophilia can greatly affect the quality of life of patients and their families. Males are generally more likely to have haemophilia than females. Haemophilia is often linked to genes inherited from the mother, a genetic mutation, pregnancy, or malignant diseases such as cancer,” said Dr Abdelbari.
Dr Abdelbari highlighted the importance of the lectures that were delivered on the second day of the events. The lectures offered health tips and medical information on haemophilia.
Haemophilia is a rare genetic disorder that results from the deficiency or absence of one of the clotting factors in the blood (proteins). This can cause bleeding for a longer time than normal following injury.
For example, if a healthy person injuries, the body will collect blood cells to form a clot that stops bleeding, while people with haemophilia have a deficiency or absence of one of the clotting factors, which leads to a heavier or longer bleeding.
The treatment of haemophilia aims at preventing haemorrhage complications, especially brain and joints haemorrhages, by administering genetically engineered blood-clotting factor medications intravenously and using other medications.