Azernews.Az

By Amina Nazarli

The latest development in the medical sciences has become music to ears of those who suffer from hemophilia.

Every year, this fatal disease takes the lives of thousands of people around the globe. Hemophilia is a type of inherited blood disorder in which the blood does not clot properly. The condition is passed to a child by one or both parents.

Specialists claim that they can help by discovering new developments in genetic engineering in order to completely treat people with hemophilia.

Bleeding disorders are due to defects in blood vessels, the coagulation mechanism, or the blood platelets. An affected individual may bleed spontaneously or for longer than a healthy person after an injury or surgery and can bleed both inside and outside of the body.

Currently, Azerbaijan has 1,500 registered hemophiliacs including 350 children under 18 years old, 700 aged 18 to 40 and 402 people over 40.

The President of the Republican Association Hemophiliacs, Gulnara Huseynova, told Trend that Germany and Italy have already implemented certain new practices and have achieved many successes in the treatment.

Using an innovative gene therapy technique, the scientists were able to reduce the severity of the disease or in some cases treat hemophilia totally.

These achievements were discussed at the European Hemophilia Consortium Conference held in Belgrade, Serbia on October 2-3, which brought together medical professionals from 29 European countries.

For the treatment of patients with hemophilia using genetic engineering in Azerbaijan, Huseynova explained, it’s necessary to establish an up-to-date medical laboratory, since genetic diseases have become very common in the country recently.

Earlier, Huseynova informed the local media that Azerbaijan would establish its first rehabilitation center for hemophiliacs, which would provide sick people with extended social, psychological and physiotherapy services.

Here, patients would have the opportunity to use physiotherapy for 21 days.

As part of the “State Program on Hemophilia for 2011-2015” to improve health care in the country, the government created registries which reflect data on age, sex, type of disease, severity and number of persons who have received treatment.

Centers for hemophilia and thalassemia have been established in the Shirvan and Ganja regions. There, patients are provided with all required treatments. They also enjoy the opportunity to have blood transfusions. Similar centers are expected to be established in the Guba, Lankaran and Mingachevir regions.

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Amina Nazarli is AzerNews’ staff journalist, follow her on Twitter: @amina_nazarli

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