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Over 1.4 lakh women
petition their healthcare
needs to the health
minister of India
On the eve of National
Safe Motherhood
Day 2017, the White
Ribbon Alliance for
Safe Motherhood,
India (WRAI), in
collaboration with the
Indian Association
of Parliamentarians
on Population and
Development (IAPPD),
today organised a
national event on the
theme ‘Quality, Equity
and Dignity for Maternal
Health’. A petition
signed by a staggering
1,43,556 rural women
from across India,
highlighting their most
critical healthcare needs,
was presented to Mr J P
Nadda, Union Minister
of Health and Family
Welfare, who was the
chief guest of the event.
Members of Parliament,
Mrs Viplove Thakur,
Dr Kirit Premjibhai
Solanki, Narsaiah Goud,
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BioVoiceNews | May 2017
Mr Majeed Memon, and
former MP Mr Avinash
Rai Khanna discussed the
issue of quality of care in
maternal health. Other
senior dignitaries present
at the event included Dr
Aparajita Gogoi, National
Coordinator of WRAI,
Mr Manmohan Sharma,
Executive Secretary of
IAPPD, Saachi Bhalla,
Program Officer, Public
Policy, Bill & Melinda
Gates Foundation and
Leila Varkey, Senior
Advisor, RCH, Centre
for Catalyzing Change.
Allow gene therapy
for us: Thalassemia
patient’s passionate
appeal to govt
In his appeal to the
government of India,
Mr Gagandeep Singh
Chandok has sought its
intervention in allowing
the Gene Therapy for
Thalassemia. “I have seen
my friends die while I
struggle to stay alive. I
need blood transfusions
every 2 weeks. I take
injections and medication
every day. This has
been my life for the
past 32 years,” said the
patient suffering from
the disease in his online
petition on Change.org.
Gagandeep is a
Thalassemia patient
and his body does not
produce enough red blood
cells. “Because we don’t
produce enough blood,
we suffer through our
lives. The disease affects
all parts of the body
including bones, muscles
and other vital organs
like liver and heart.
Thalassemia is a chronic
degenerative condition,”
he goes on. “There
is no known cure for
thalassemia except bone
marrow transplant (BMT)
and most patients in India
can neither afford it nor
do they have relevant
matches with siblings or
others. BMT can be done
only for children up to
the age of 10 after which
it is a serious risk.”
“The only proven cure
available to us is “Gene
Therapy”. It is a process
by which some of our
normal cells can be
harvested and made
to produce more blood