UAE | Health
New thalassaemia unit to open in RAK
The Medical District has announced that a new thalassaemia unit will open here shortly to serve thalassaemia patients and spare them regular trips to other emirates for treatment.
- By Nasouh Nazzal, Staff Reporter
- Published: 23:41 October 3, 2008
Ras Al Khaimah The Medical District has announced that a new thalassaemia unit will open here shortly to serve thalassaemia patients and spare them regular trips to other emirates for treatment.
A senior official at the medical district said that the new unit will be equipped with the most advanced equipment and machines and that a full crew will be recruited to look after the patients who will get the best possible health care in the new centre.
Thalassaemia patients in Ras Al Khaimah have repeatedly complained about the failure to set up a specialised thalassaemia unit despite one being urgently needed.
A total of 33 people in Ras Al Khaimah with thalassaemia do not have access to the necessary drugs, which can be taken orally in the form of tablets, as such drugs are not available in the public hospitals or even the private pharmacies. Patients must travel to other emirates to receive treatment, and have regularly urged the authorities to set up a unit especially for Ras Al Khaimah patients.
The official said that the new unit will provide the thalassaemia patients with drugs, adding that the new unit will meet all the needs of the patients and that they need no longer worry about their treatment and prescriptions.
Painful injections
The new oral drugs are also necessary as they make the treatment of thalassaemia less painful, particularly for children as it replaces the need for daily painful injections which are administered just under the skin.
The patients said that Ras Al Khaimah does not even have a single thalassaemia specialist practitioner, where only normal physicians from the pediatric departments follow up their cases.
Fourteen patients report to Saqr Hospital and the rest refer to Obaid Allah Hospital.
The official stressed that the Medical District has discussed the issue of a thalassaemia unit for the emirate with the Ministry of Health and as a result the necessary budget has been allocated and the new unit will be operational shortly.
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