1st Pan-Asian Conference - Report

1st Pan-Asian Conference on Haemoglobinopathies 8-10 February 2012 - Bangkok, Thailand Royal Orchid Sheraton Hotel & Towers

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CONFERENCE DECLARATION April 2012

CONFERENCE DECLARATION “We, the participants of the 1st Pan-Asian Conference on Haemoglobinopathies, 8-10 February 2012, Bangkok, Thailand, have consensus on moving forward to address this major medico-socio-economic problem and support in promoting services, in close collaboration with National Health Authorities, to provide specific and timely diagnosis and management to our patients with Hb disorders, in order to improve their health and quality of life.

We are interested to form national, regional and international networks to pool knowledge, expertise and resources to better support the implementation of such strategies. It is our objective to observe significant progress in five (5) years’ time, monitored in two years’ time in the context of the 2nd Pan-Asian Conference on haemoglobinopathies that will take place in Asia. We will be aiming to achieve: a. 25% increase in the development of prevention programmes; b. 40% increase in patients receiving appropriate treatment – blood transfusion and iron chelation according to TIF’s guidelines and upcoming guidelines on the management of Thalassaemia Intermedia, HbE/β-thalassaemia and SCD’ c. 60% increase in Patients’ Organisations in the region; d. 40% increase in Patients’ registries, and; e. 25% increase of Reference centres across the region and networks between the medical specialists of and within countries.”

These activities should be linked to WHO’s 2008-2013 Action plan for the global strategy for the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases (www.who.int/nmh/publications/9789241597418/en/index.html) – Non-communicable diseases prevention and Health Promotion V.2 (www.who.int/hpr/gs.strategy.country.shtml) and to the two WHO Resolutions on Thalassaemia and Sickle Cell Anaemia (EB118_R1 and WHA59_R20 , respectively).