Regional desk review of haemoglobinopathies with an emphasis on thalassaemia and accessibility and availability of safe blood and blood products as per these patients' requirement in South-East Asia under universal health coverage

Disorders of haemoglobin are one of the most common monogenic disorders prevalent across the world. While sickle cell disorders are more prevalent worldwide, the thalassaemic syndromes including α and β-thalassaemia and haemoglobin-E disease are associated with high prevalence rates in the countries of the WHO SEA Region. This desk review was performed using data from thalassaemia societies, the nodal authorities dealing with blood product support, data published in the literature and data from WHO. Member states may find it useful to leverage the information contained herein to develop national action plans to address this problem in all possible ways including access to sufficient and secure blood and blood products, and safe transfusion services, as a vital part of achieving universal health coverage.