Towards a Thalassemia Free Society: A Study of Service Delivery Challenges for Premarital Screening in Punjab
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.56976/rjsi.v5i1.79Abstract
Thalassemia is one of the common genetic disorders. Nearly 7.9 million children are born with genetic birth defects worldwide, out of which 94% are in middle-income countries. Pakistan bears 5-8% carrier rate prevalence of beta-thalassemia. Premarital screening is considered one of the effective ways of preventing thalassemia and reducing its prevalence. The present study explores the challenges and barriers to service delivery of premarital screening programs in Punjab. The qualitative methods are used for carrying out this study. The study positions itself within epistemological grounds of interpretive approach. Thirteen health care providers from teaching hospitals of Lahore are selected through purposive sampling. Data is collected using in-depth interviews and thematic analysis is carried out to analyze the results. The findings of the study identify the barriers that include lack of infrastructure (technical support and human resource), economic barriers, public-related barriers (awareness, responsibility, cultural beliefs and family setup), provider-related barriers i.e. knowledge and skill, ambiguity about the professional roles, time constraints and difficulty discussing health anxiety and consanguinity. Moreover, potential burdens in the form of ethical implications and legal concerns are also identified. The study recommends improvements and steps to be taken to address the challenges for the implementation of a failure free policy.
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Copyright (c) 2023 Abida Tehreem, Ahmad Usman, Javeria Saleem
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