Why not thalassemia test reports on NID cards: HC

The High Court asks the government bodies concerned to explain as to why they should not be directed to formulate a provision for including thalassemia test report on NID cards.
This information is vital so that patients of this disease do not marry each other and their children are not affected by this disease, it says.
The HC bench of Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Justice Kazi Md Ejarul Haque Akondo issued this rule on Sunday following a writ petition filed by Supreme Court lawyer Md Eunus Ali Akond seeking necessary directives.
Cabinet, health, law and home secretaries, Election Commission, DGHS, and Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council have been asked to comply with the rule in four weeks.
Mr Akond said in the petition that thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that causes the human body to have less hemoglobin than normal and hemoglobin enables red blood cells to carry oxygen.
Thalassemia can cause anemia, leaving people fatigued and if someone has mild Thalassemia, they might not need treatment.
But more severe forms might require regular blood transfusions.
The mutations associated with thalassemia are passed from parents to children. The more mutated genes the more severe thalassemia and as such the respondents should be directed to make provision.
A provision needs to be formulated for inserting thalassemia information into NID cards, asserts the lawyer.

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