15 medical devices distributed to Thalasemia patients in Pitas
PITAS: A total of 15 Desferal machines were distributed to Thalassemia patients in Pitas recently.
The machines were handed over by Assistant Finance Minister 1, Datuk Abdul Rahim Bakri to the president of the Sabah Thalassemia association during the Malaysia Prihatin programme held at Kompleks Sukan Mini in Pitas.
Chairman of the association, Francis Mujim said that the machines were important for thalassemia patients to continue their life.
"The machine reduces excess iron from the patients blood," he said.
The filtering process using the machine takes between eight and 10 hours and is usually done at night, he said.
In addition to the Desferal machine, also used by patients to get rid of excess iron is the infusion pump, he said.
He said that the family members of a thalassemia patient play important roles to ensure adherence by patients to use the machine.
He said that there are 1,814 patients in Sabah and that 60 percent are in need of the machine to treat iron chelation in their body.
He added that Pitas has more than 100 Thalassemia patients while Kudat has 89 patients.