KABUL (TOLOnews): Patients who are suffering from hemophilia disease and their family members held a gathering in capital Kabul to protest lack of sufficient blood factors (proteins in blood that contribute to clotting) in the country as they are facing severe challenges.
Some of the patients expressed concerns over the suspension of assistance of the aid organizations, saying that the assistance provided by the aid organizations should not be politicized. “The assistance to us should not be politicized. We should persevere and be neutral. We call on the WHO to help us. We are going towards penalization,” said Musa, a patient.
“If you don’t recognize our government, we are human after all and a nation. There is no injection, the factor. There is no factor 8 and factor 13 and factor 7. There is no factor. It has been six months, my foot is in pain,” said Mohammad Sami, a patient. 20-year-old Bahman said that he is unable to properly walk because of the effects of hemophilia.
“Since the factors have been suspended, I am going through severe pain. Both of my feet are harmed. I also have economic challenges and I am unable to purchase the medicine,” he said. This comes as the Afghanistan National Blood Bank (ANBB) said that 98 percent of the patients are at risk of paralysis and death.
“We have passed severe pain. We are awake from night till morning. My mom also stayed awake with me,” said Farhad, a patient. “There is a possibility that between 3,000 to 4,000 hemophilia patients are in Afghanistan. When we assess how many of the patients have been harmed or paralyzed, 98 percent of the patients have become severe,” said Mohammad Nasir Sadiq, head of the ANBB. Hemophilia is a rare disorder in which the blood doesn’t clot in the typical way because it doesn’t have enough blood-clotting proteins (clotting factors). The disease may also cause bleeding for a longer time after an injury.
Gathering held in Kabul by hemophilia illness patients
