About 28 years ago, the Thalassemia Patients' Friends Association was established in the early nineties, as a charitable civil society, through the efforts of a group of patients' families, doctors, and treatment seekers, to support patients from its establishment until now.

However, the suffering of thalassemia patients has worsened since last October, and until now, during that period 27 patients were martyred, 7 of them as a result of direct bombing, and the rest due to lack of treatment and medicines, as Gaza patients suffer from a severe shortage of medicines, treatment and necessary blood filters, according to what the Secretary of the Friends of Thalassemia Patients Association, Jihad Abu Ghosh, confirmed in an interview with Al-Quds.

Abu Ghosh stresses that throughout the months of aggression on the Gaza Strip, the suffering of thalassemia patients, numbering (296) patients, including about (100) sick children, has worsened, especially the remaining patients in the besieged northern areas of the Gaza Strip, where they face a reality in which hunger and disease combine.

According to the latest statistics, the number of thalassemia patients in the West Bank and Gaza Strip is about 870 patients, 296 of whom are in the Gaza Strip.

Continuous efforts despite the suffering..

Thalassemia patients from the West Bank and East Jerusalem were receiving regular blood transfusions every three weeks at the pediatric department at Al-Makassed Hospital, but the major challenge was the lack of Desferal, a treatment necessary to flush excess iron from patients’ bodies so they could live their lives normally.

Desferal treatment is expensive, and patients also need special pumps to ensure the treatment is used correctly, which creates an additional burden on patients and their families.

Abu Ghosh confirms that in the face of this challenge, a decision was made to transfer patients to West Bank hospitals to provide full service in cooperation with the Palestinian Ministry of Health, while Jerusalem patients were transferred to Israeli hospitals according to an administrative decision from Al-Makassed Hospital.

In light of the current war, the association continues to appeal to international institutions and organizations to save Gaza’s patients, as the health system has largely collapsed.

There are currently 27 patients in Egypt since the beginning of the war, but they are not receiving the necessary treatment to expel the iron from their bodies, while Abu Ghosh confirms that the association is working in cooperation with the Ministry of Health and international associations to help them.

After the destruction of Al-Shifa and Al-Turki hospitals, the two main hospitals in the Gaza Strip, Kamal Adwan and Nasser hospitals were converted to provide health services as an alternative during the war.

Abu Ghosh explains that the association is now coordinating cooperation with the Ministry of Health to activate the National Committee for Combating Thalassemia after the rise in new cases to 69 new births at a rate of 6 cases annually after 2023, which is a noticeable increase after the Corona pandemic, so the association is focusing its efforts on reintroducing the subject of thalassemia into the Palestinian curricula, activating the role of the media, the Office of the Chief Justice, and several other institutions.

The importance of the association..

The Friends of Thalassemia Patients Association plays an active role in Palestinian society and international organizations. It is a member of the Union of Charitable Societies in Jerusalem, the Network of Non-Governmental Organizations, and a founding member of the Arab Forum for Thalassemia Societies.

The Society is also a member of the Thalassemia Scientific Society and has received several international and local awards for its distinguished efforts in reducing the number of new births of thalassemia patients from 30 cases annually to only one or two cases.

The association aims to raise health awareness in the Palestinian community and improve health care for thalassemia patients. It operates community centers in Tulkarm and Nablus, funded by the Kuwait Arab Fund and supported by local institutions. The association’s headquarters are located in Al-Bireh Medical Center, and it has a branch in Gaza at the Medical Relief headquarters in Jabalia, where it provides various services including networking with institutions and training for all patients in Gaza.

There are treatment units for thalassemia patients in most government hospitals in the West Bank, including Thabet Hospital, Qalqilya Hospital, Alia Hospital, National Hospital, and Palestine Medical Complex.

The association is a founding member of the Arab Thalassemia Associations Forum, which includes countries such as Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Iraq, and the United Arab Emirates, under the auspices of the International Thalassemia Federation. The association works to coordinate with the relevant authorities so that the Ministry of Health can implement treatment protocols and provide the necessary medicines and medical personnel to follow up on thalassemia patients in Palestine.

It is noteworthy that the Thalassemia Patients Friends Association obtained an official license in 1996 from the Palestinian Ministry of Interior, and the actual launch of the initiative was after transferring patients from Al-Makassed Hospital in Jerusalem to hospitals in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In 1997, during the first Thalassemia Conference sponsored by Dr. Riad Zaanoun, it was announced that Thalassemia patients would be exempted from health insurance fees, and patients received free insurance thanks to the efforts of the patients’ families and the association.