Current Status of Thalassemia in Lao People’s Democratic Republic

Abstract

Thalassemia is a major public health and economical burden in Lao People’s Democratic Republic (Lao PDR). This study is aiming to elaborate the current situation of Thalassemia in Laos. α- and β-thalassemia (α- and β-thal) includes the common Hb S (HBB: c.20A>T) and hemoglobins (Hbs) such as Hb Constant Spring (Hb CS or HBA2: c.427T>C) and Hb E (HBB: c.79G>A) that are prevalent in the country. Overall, the prevalence of α-thal in Lao PDR is 26.8%. There was high prevalence of homozygous (12.8%) and heterozygous (39.7%) Hb E among migrant workers from Lao PDR who crossed the border to work in Thailand. Iron chelation, blood transfusion, prenatal screening and diagnosis, comprehensive treatment are still the major problems. Splenectomy is still performed. A national registry has still not been established. This is a national economic burden for the country. Thalassemia prevention and control strategy should be established and advocated by the government in order to reduce morbidity and premature mortality.

Keywords:

• Current status
• Lao People’s Democratic Republic (PDR)
• Thalassemia

Disclosure statement

The authors report no conflicts of interest. The authors alone are responsible for the content and writing of this article.

Additional information

Funding

This Special Issue on Thalassemia in Asia 2021 was partially supported by Project KY202002008 from the Ministry of Science & Technology of the People’s Republic of China through the Asian Thalassemia Training Center (ATTC) at Guangxi Medical University, Nanning, Guangxi, PRC.