Hemophilia treatment halts in Iraqi Kurdistan
Shafaq News- Al-Sulaymaniyah
Persistent shortages of life-saving medicines and clotting factor injections are putting hundreds of people with hemophilia in the Kurdistan Region at growing risk, a patients' advocacy group warned on Saturday, urging authorities to restore supplies as soon as possible.
During a press conference, Adel Zaniyar, head of the
Kurdistan Hemophilia Patients Association, noted that more than 350 people with
hemophilia live in Al-Sulaymaniyah Province, while the number of patients
across Iraq exceeds 7,000. “Patients have struggled to obtain essential treatment
for months, with the shortages linked to delays in forming the Kurdistan
Regional Government (KRG) and a lack of funding to purchase medicines and
clotting factor injections.”
Requiring between 30 and 40 injections every month, and a single injection costs between $400 and $500, many patients cannot afford the treatment they need, he said.
"Continued shortages could lead to severe bleeding and life-threatening complications," Zaniyar cautioned, adding that the formation of a new KRG approving funding, and the Iraqi Health Ministry allowing medicines supply directly through the country's health system, would help many patients.
Hemophilia is a rare inherited bleeding disorder caused by a deficiency in one of the blood-clotting factors, leaving patients vulnerable to prolonged bleeding after injuries as well as spontaneous bleeding in the joints, muscles, and internal organs.
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