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Every year, thousands of children in Bangladesh are born with thalassemia — a preventable blood disorder. At BTPWA, we work to raise awareness, provide support, and ensure no patient feels alone.
of people in Bangladesh have never heard of ‘Thalassemia’.
Thalassemia is 100% preventable. There are two ways to prevent the birth of children with thalassemia disease:
i) Preventing marriage between two thalassemia carriers, after knowing whether or not someone is a carrier through a blood test (Hemoglobin Electrophoresis) before marriage, known as premarital screening. Carriers carry the thalassemia gene silently and do not show any symptoms. The Hemoglobin Electrophoresis test is enough to be done once in a lifetime and only this test can diagnose thalassemia carriers.
(ii) In the case of two carrier parents, the affected child’s birth can be prevented by screening the fetus for thalassemia, known as prenatal screening. Its purpose is to legally carry out an abortion on the advice of a doctor if the unborn child is diagnosed with thalassemia disease.
The Bangladesh Thalassemia Patients and Parents’ Welfare Association (BTPWA), formerly We Are Not Alone (WANA), is a voluntary, non-profit organization run by patients and families. We work to ensure safe blood transfusions, access to medicines, mental health support for patients, and arrange awareness campaigns to educate everyone about thalassemia so that together we can prevent it. We want:
Every contribution you make helps thalassemia patients live healthier, more dignified lives. Your donations directly support vital areas of medical care, nutrition, shelter, and education.
For patients with moderate to severe thalassemia, blood transfusions are a life-saving necessity and the cornerstone of treatment. Nearly two-thirds of the thalassemia patients require one to four bags of blood every month.
About 41% of blood centers at the district level have insufficient blood supply
81% thalassemia parents face difficulty in managing blood donors regularly
Prevention is the only measure that can drastically reduce the incidences of severe thalassemias
Thalassemia is spreading like a silent epidemic in the country due to the lack of awareness, but still, a proper action plan to prevent thalassemia is absent. We urge for a comprehensive and effective national prevention strategy tailored to the unique socieconomic and cultural context of Bangladesh.
More than 18,000 BDT (~150 USD) is needed every month to treat a thalassemia patient, this is 13% of the patient’s family income on an average.
17-22 million thalassemia carriers in Bangladesh among 160 million population, which means 10-13% people are carriers. This rate is the 2nd highest in the world.
Every donation, big or small, helps provide blood, medicines, shelter for patients and families in need and arrange awareness programs all over Bangladesh. You can also join us as a member, volunteer, or blood donor. Together, we can prevent thalassemia and make the patients lives better.
The Bangladesh Thalassemia Patients and Parents’ Welfare Association is powered by patients or their parents, who share one vision — a thalassemia-free Bangladesh.
