World Haemophilia Day 2024: It is observed on April 17 and the day was started by the World Federation of Haemophilia (WHF). An effort for better diagnosis and access to care for those people who remain without treatment, to raise funds for the people who are suffering from this disease and are not able to afford treatment.
It also provides an opportunity to discuss the disease with friends, family, colleagues, etc., and to support the patients suffering from hemophilia.
What is Haemophilia?
Hemophilia is a genetic disease, i.e., it can be transmitted to children by parents. Usually, this disease is more common in males. Chromosomes are the carriers of this disease and as a result, blood does not clot, due to which bleeding occurs.
Patients suffering from hemophilia disease lack a protein in the blood, which is also called a clotting factor. This protein works with the platelets to stop bleeding at the site of an injury. That is, after an injury, a person bleeds for a longer time and also they are more susceptible to internal bleeding. If bleeding is high, then it can be deadly.
World Haemophilia Day 2024: Theme
The theme for this year's World Hemophilia Day is 'Equitable access for all: recognizing all bleeding disorders'.
The World Hemophilia Federation will celebrate World Hemophilia Day this year on the theme “Access for All: Prevention of Bleeds as the Global Standard of Care.”
The theme of World Haemophilia Day 2021 is “Adapting to change: sustaining care in a new world". Living during a pandemic can pose several challenges, not only for our health but also for our mental health and well-being. This year the day is a platform across the world for exploring the community's resilience and how we will overcome this new challenge as we have overcome other challenges in the past.
The theme of 30th World Haemophilia Day 2020 is "Get + Involved". The theme encourages patients, family members or caregivers, corporate partners, a volunteer, healthcare providers, etc. to help increase awareness about Haemophilia disease an inherited bleeding disorder, and an urge to make access to adequate care possible everywhere in the world.
The theme of the 29th World Haemophilia Day 2019 was “Outreach and Identification”. To concentrate on reaching out and identifying new members of the bleeding disorders community.
Haemophilia Disease: What is it, how is it caused, symptoms and treatment?
World Haemophilia Day 2024: History
World Haemophilia Day was started by the World Federation of Haemophilia in 1989 and on 17 April, was chosen to celebrate it in honour of the founder of the World Federation of Haemophilia Frank Schnabel's birthday. Actually, hemophilia was discovered in about the 10th century, when people started to take a serious interest, especially in males, who, after minor injuries due to bleeding,, caused death. At that time this disease was known as Abulcasis. But, due to limited technology, it was not cured. Especially, at that time this disease was common in European royal families and was treated with aspirin, which further thinned the blood and the condition becomes worse. Then, Dr John Conrad Otto of Philadelphia in 1803 began to study people called "bleeders" and said that it is a hereditary illness that is passed on to males by their mothers. In 1937, haemophilia genetic disorder was divided into two types: A and B. But no proper treatment was invented till that time.
Then, April 17 was chosen to raise awareness among people about hemophilia disease on the occasion of the founder of WFH birthdays. The day encourages people, to increase awareness to collect funds for the treatment of this disease for those who can't afford it.
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World Haemophilia Day 2024: Celebration
On April 17 every year worldwide, World Haemophilia Day is celebrated to raise understanding and awareness of this genetic disorder and other linked bleeding disorders. Many people organise awareness-raising campaigns and perform several activities to inform the general public about Haemophilia disease. Even the employees of various health organisations participate in the events. The main issue with this disease is that people suffering from hemophilia won't get proper treatment or sometimes no treatment. On April 17, 2020, landmarks and monuments in Australia and around the world will support World Haemophilia Day by changing their lighting to red at night.
In India, on this day, various events are organised by groups of people in several states. Indian Haemophilia Foundation, situated in New Delhi, in association with the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, also celebrates this day by providing medical facilities to the needy and increasing awareness about this disease. program is also conducted to take and update decisions at the national and state level about the sufferings and disorders of the hemophilic community.
About Haemophilia Disease
- Hemophilia is an inherited blood disorder in which blood does not clot properly.
- It is caused by defects in the blood vessels, the coagulation mechanism, or the blood platelets, and by a deficiency in a gene that determines how the human body will make factors VII, IX, or XI.
- The genes are found on the X chromosome, which makes hemophilia a disease of X-linked recessive.
- A person suffering from this disease bleeds spontaneously. After injury or surgery, a person may bleed for longer than a healthy person.
- The blood coagulation mechanism is a process that transforms the blood from a liquid into a solid and involves several different clotting factors. In this mechanism, fibrin is generated and, together, combines with the platelet to stop the bleeding.
- If coagulation factors are missing or deficient in the body, then blood does not clot properly, and bleeding continues.
- Haemophilia has three forms namely Haemophilia A, B, and C. Out of these, Hemophilia A is the most common.
- Haemophilia A patient is treated by prescribing the hormone desmopressin.
- Haemophilia B patient is treated by infusing the patient’s blood with the clotting factors of a donor.
- Hemophilia C patients are treated by plasma infusion, which ceases profuse bleeding.
- Therefore, World Haemophilia Day focuses on educating hemophilic patients and the general public about bleeding disorders. It also emphasises the proper treatment and care for hemophilic patients.
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