Experts Urge Free Prenatal Testing to Prevent Thalassemia Cases in KP

Health experts have urged the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Department to simplify pre-marriage screening and provide free prenatal testing to help curb the spread of thalassemia in the province.

Despite the enforcement of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Health Preventive Act in 2009, officials say implementation remains weak due to high testing costs and limited facilities.

The High-Performance Liquid Chromatography (HPLC) test, which costs around Rs2,500, is available at only a few centers in cities such as Peshawar, Swat, and Abbottabad.

Experts estimate that with around 200,000 marriages annually in the province, nearly 400,000 HPLC tests would be required each year, placing a financial burden of about Rs1 billion.

Yasar Mehmood Yousafzai, a hematologist at Khyber Medical University, has proposed a more practical approach.

He recommended using the Complete Blood Count (CBC) test as the first-line screening tool for all couples, reserving the more expensive HPLC test for cases showing abnormal results.

He said the CBC-based model would be more affordable, widely accessible, and likely to achieve better public compliance compared to making HPLC mandatory for everyone.

Experts also stressed the need to make the chorionic villus sampling (CVS) test freely available. Currently, many patients must travel to other cities for the test, which costs around Rs20,000.

According to Ijaz Ali, the province has approximately 50,000 thalassemia patients, with new cases being registered every month, indicating gaps in prevention efforts.

He noted that expanding access to free CVS testing could help prevent the birth of children with severe thalassemia, reducing long-term health and financial burdens on families.

Experts have called on the government to adopt a cost-effective and accessible screening strategy to strengthen prevention efforts and reduce the growing burden of the disease.