East : thalassaemia.

The programme aims to raise the level of education about thalassaemia, an inherited disease, among those susceptible to it. Of babies born in Britain with thalassaemia, 80% are from Asian families. In a survey carried out by EAST among British Asians, 65% had never heard of the disease. Prof. Sir David Weatherall (Institute of Molecular Medicine) and Dr. Nitin Lakhani (UK Thalassaemia Society) describe the genetics of the disease, its symptoms and treatment. The treatment is stressful and time-consuming and some patients find it hard to tolerate. Scenes of a child and a young man undergoing treatment show the difficulties involved. In London's Greek Cypriot community thalassaemia has almost been eliminated by pre-marriage genetic testing. With no new treatment in sight, awareness of pre-marriage testing to eliminate the condition is of great importance.