The Socio-Demographic Profile of Thalassemia in Basrah

Abstract

The thalassemias is one of the most common inherited diseases worldwide with considerable frequencies in the Middle East region, including Iraq. As the diseases requires long-term care, establishment of an effective preventative program constitutes a major armament in the management. As part of this effort, we initiated this primary studyto determine the types of thalassemic patients based on family medical history, age, region, blood groups and consanguineous marriages.The results showed the geographical and social distributions of thalassemia in Basrah city of Iraq. For the later purpose, based on the present findings, we willinvestigate the molecular basis of this disease with the aim of establishing a proper preventive program.