Thalassaemia and Sickle Cell Disease: two great challenges

Links: - MSc in Haemoglobionopathy - Thalassaemia International Federation (TIF) - A G Leventis foundation On Monday 8 June 2009 a new MSc in Haemoglobionopathy was launched at UCL. Fifty staff, patients and supporters met in the university's Terrace Restaurant to mark the event, the guests of Professor Michael Worton, UCL Vice-Provost (Academic and International), and the course directors, Ratna Chatterjee and Rehka Bajoria. Among the invited guests were: Mr Panos Englezos, President of Thalassaemia International Federation (TIF) and member of the Cyprus House of Representatives; Mr Levkos Vassiliou, Welfare Minster, Cyprus High Commission in London; Androulla Eleftheriou, Executive Director, TIF; Mrs Georgina Demopoulou, A G Leventis Foundation; Mr Michael Michael, President of the UK Thalassaemia Society. Common haemoglobinopathies, genetic conditions that include sickle-cell disease and thalassaemia, affect about 7% of the worlds population (420 million people), of which the largest proportion are in populations in Africa, the Mediterranean basin, and Southeast Asia. Despite the widespread nature of haemoglobinopathy disorders there has never been any specialist training programme for those who treat the condition. As a result, the number of expert scientists and clinicians anywhere in the world who are fully skilled in the care, investigation and prevention of hemogobiniopathies is very few, and they are widely dispersed across the globe. Thus, the provision of this new degree programme at UCL fills an urgent need in medical training; the first of its kind anywhere.