Workshop on the needs of patients with Thalassemia in Palestine

The Faculty of Nursing at Hebron University with cooperation with Thalassemia Patients’ Friends Society-Palestine conducted a workshop about the health needs of Thalassemia Patients in Palestine.

Dr. Hussein Jabareen, the dean of faculty of nursing, opened the workshop and spoke about the principles of health promotion and the importance of increasing the public awareness about Thalassemia. He also emphasized the value of conducting health research to identify the needs of Thalassemia patients in Palestine and the necessity of projecting a national strategy to fight the incidence of Thalassemia.

Dr. Bashar Karmy, the head of Thalassemia Patients' Friends Society-Palestine, presented a lecture about the genetic hereditary, signs and Symptoms, and complications of Thalassemia. Dr. Karmy also explained that the objective of the unti-thalassemia campaign is to stop the incidence of thalassemia in 2013 through organized community efforts such as pre-marriage exam.

The discussion that was managed by Mrs Nemeh Manasreh and Mrs Zainab Sulieman, from the faculty of Nursing, then ran on the primary (awareness), secondary (laboratory exams and treatment), and tertiary (decrease the complications) health services for Thalassemia patients.

The workshop was concluded with many recommendations that focused on the role of the Palestinian Ministry of Health, Non-governmental, and social organizations in fighting Thalassemia.

It was also recommended that the students of faculty of nursing and Hebron University should have an active role in the unti-thalassemia campaign by supporting its webpage and to establish a facebook or twitter group to spread the information and coordinate the activities of that health campaign.