Theme: “Access for All”: Prevention of bleeds as the global standard of care.
This year 2023, World Hemophilia Day 2023 Theme is “Access for All”: Prevention of bleeds as the global standard of care. World Hemophilia Day is commemorated every year on April 17. The day, devoted to those who have hemophilia, is marked to raise awareness and help them have a better future. Hemophilia is a rare condition in which blood cannot clot properly because it lacks adequate blood-clotting proteins.
This year, World Haemophilia Day celebrates its 31st anniversary with activities focused on encouraging the public to support government and policymakers for the provision of better treatment, prevention, and control of bleeds in persons suffering from bleeding disorders.
Though no treatment for hemophilia has been discovered yet, one can manage the disease by regularly injecting clotting factors to minimize spontaneous bleeding episodes. The World Federation of Hemophilia established World Hemophilia Day in 1989.
FACTS ABOUT HEMOPHILIA
- It is a genetic condition inherited from mother to child. It’s a rare severe, inherited haemorrhagic disorder. It is caused by malfunction of factor VIII and factor IX protein (factors required for blood clotting/ coagulation), leading to an abnormality in blood coagulation.
- Although people of all races and ethnicities can be diagnosed with Haemophilia, men are more likely to be affected because the ailment is connected to the X chromosome. There is a 50% probability that a boy whose mother carries the Haemophilia gene will also be affected by Haemophilia, and her daughter being 50% risk of being carrier hence, Haemophilia is more common in males, despite the fact that Hemophilia C is considered less dangerous than hemophilia A and hemophilia B, and people with hemophilia C don’t need clotting factor I.V. regularly.
- Because of how the illness is passed down genetically, it is highly unusual for women to be born with it, and mostly affects men though it can affect females causing difficulties with menstruation and childbirth.
- Blood tests diagnose it. Clotting factor tests, also known as factor assays, are necessary to determine a bleeding disease and the severity of hemophilia.
- The most frequent kind is hemophilia A. Hemophilia A is the most prevalent type of condition affecting one in every 5,000 boys, hemophilia B affects one in every 25,000 boys, and hemophilia C affects one in every 100,000 boys.
HOW TO OBSERVE WORLD HEMOPHILIA DAY
- By creating awareness especially on social media and in your community.
- By making donationsto hemophilia research.
- By helping in raising funds for those who cannot afford treatment.
- To celebrate all persons with a bleeding disorder and promote awareness for World Hemophilia Day, turn on a red light in your house, business, or even a local landmark. This is a way to raise awareness.
IMPORTANCE OF WORLD HEMOPHILIA DAY
- World Hemophilia Day helps in creating awareness because many people lack the knowledge about this uncommon but severe ailment and its causing delayed diagnosis. Lack of awareness can increase the death toll.
- World Hemophilia Day helps raise funds that go into researching this condition. As a result, we can learn how to manage it better.
- World Hemophilia Day makes it possible for people living with the condition to connect. It also enables the rest of the world to show support.
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