The inability of the body to create clotting proteins necessary for blood coagulation is a characteristic of haemophilia, a genetic bleeding illness. There are serious health hazards as a result of the protracted bleeding. Even though haemophilia affects people all throughout the world, underdeveloped nations have special difficulties in providing proper care and treatment for those who are affected. The causes and signs of haemophilia are examined in this article, along with the difficulties that developing nations experience in treating it. While delving deeper into prospective avenues for better care and addressing the obstacles these countries may face.
What is haemophilia?
Haemophilia is a hereditary condition that usually affects men and is brought on by defects in the blood clotting proteins clotting factors VIII (haemophilia A) or IX (haemophilia B). Without these clotting components, even minor wounds or surgical procedures can cause protracted bleeding. The amount of clotting factor in the blood affects how severe a haemophilia case is.
What are the causes of haemophilia?
Haemophilia often affects the offspring because of a faulty gene. Haemophilia is known as an X-linked recessive disorder because of the position of the gene on the X chromosome.
Challenges in Hemophilia Care in Developing Countries
The provision of sufficient care and treatment for haemophilia in developing nations is fraught with difficulties. These challenges include a lack of specialised healthcare workers, limited access to diagnostic facilities, a scarcity of clotting factor concentrates, and budgetary limitations. Assays to evaluate clotting factor levels are an example of a diagnostic test that may be expensive or unavailable, resulting in delayed or incorrect diagnoses.
Inadequate healthcare infrastructure: Limited healthcare supply chains in developing countries often contribute to shortages of clotting factor concentrates, which are crucial for preventing and managing bleeding episodes. The high cost of these treatments further exacerbates the issue, making it difficult for individuals in low-resource settings to access and afford them. Inadequate awareness and education among healthcare providers and the general public about haemophilia further complicates the situation.
Priorities to other common diseases: India has a higher prevalence of infectious diseases like malaria and hepatitis as well as chronic illnesses like cancer, obesity, and diabetes. Hence, due to the twin burden of infections and degenerative, malignant disorders, the paltry health funds that these countries allocate for health (between 1 and 2 percent of GDP) are mostly consumed by infectious, malignant, and degenerative diseases, leaving less funds for less common diseases.
Lack of awareness: There are three ways in which society lacks in understanding haemophilia treatment: at the level of society; at the level of physicians and the medical establishment (many physicians in developing nations hold the opinion that it is a serious disorder for which there is no curative treatment); and at the level of political, social, and political decision-makers. Poor health statistics apply to the majority of developing nations, including India, where just 10–20% of anticipated severe and moderate patients with haemophilia have been discovered.
Possibilities for Better Care
Despite the difficulties, there are chances for better haemophilia in underdeveloped nations. Governments, healthcare providers, and non-governmental organisations (NGOs) can work together to address the supply chain and infrastructure problems. Focus should be placed on developing clotting factor concentrate supply systems that are dependable and sustainable and guarantee their accessibility at reasonable costs.
Promoting early diagnosis and adequate haemophilia treatment management requires extensive education and awareness campaigns. Patient outcomes may be improved by teaching medical staff how to diagnose and treat haemophilia. NGOs and international organisations can be extremely helpful in supplying healthcare professionals in poor nations with training, assistance, and education.
Innovative methods can decrease the access gap to specialised haemophilia care, like telemedicine and mobile health applications. These technologies make it possible to monitor patient adherence to treatment, conduct remote consultations, and give patients and healthcare professionals access to instructional materials.
Additionally, collaborations with pharmaceutical firms and groups engaged in haemophilia research can promote technological transfer, cost-effective manufacturing, and increased access to clotting factor concentrates.
For underdeveloped nations like India, haemophilia poses considerable difficulties, including limited access to diagnosis, a paucity of clotting factor concentrates, budgetary limitations, and a shortage of qualified medical personnel. However, there are chances for better care through teamwork, instruction, creative methods, and alliances. Developing nations can improve the quality of life for people with haemophilia and make sure they get the care they require by tackling these issues and seizing these chances.
Agilus Diagnostics, a subsidiary of Fortis Healthcare Limited
