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The High Court has ordered authorities to form a committee of experts who will be tasked with coming up with a policy to stop the spread of thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder.
It called for a seven-member committee to be assembled within the next 30 days. The committee would be required to submit a draft proposal in six months.
The High Court bench of Justice Farah Mahbub and Justice Muhammad Mahbub Ul Islam gave the order after a writ petition hearing on Monday.
The court also issued a rule asking why effective steps would not be taken to stop the spread of the disease and why information about the genetic disorder should not be recorded on marriage certificates.
Secretaries of the cabinet, the PMO, health, Directorate of Secondary and Higher Education, law, and religious affairs were among eight people asked to respond to the ruling.
The court also ordered the launch of awareness-raising programmes among the public, students, government officials and those from other professions.
The Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh activist group filed a writ petition with the High Court on Jun 15, attaching reports on the disease published in different national dailies.
Appearing on behalf of the petitioner, lawyer Manzill Murshid said children born of carriers of thalassemia also contract the disease and need safe blood to be supplied regularly to stay alive. The process drains the parents of money, he added.
“The number of patients with the disease is rising due to a lack of awareness. So a government initiative to stop marriages between carriers of the disease is now needed.”
According to medical journals published in the country, more than 18 million people in Bangladesh carry the disease, while around 7,000 children are born with the blood disorder.
Experts said half of the population might become carriers of the disease over the next 50 years if things are not swiftly brought under control.
According to a 2017 study, a Bangladeshi family has to spend Tk 150,000-Tk 200,000 on average for blood transfusions for a thalassemia patient.
Another treatment for the disease is a bone marrow transplant, which is extremely expensive.