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The life-threatening genetic blood disorder, thalassaemia, which causes decreased haemoglobin production, is preventable. Sociocultural determinants and the level of public health awareness must be used to adopt control measures of prevention. Identifying information gaps and educating the community about screening should be a priority, especially in areas with high disease burdens. A relevant health education technique, with which the audience can identify, can effectively bring understanding necessary effectively to sensitise the community. We propose the 'Bag and Ball' method, which includes role-play for health education specifically concerning inherited genetic disorders., Competing Interests: Declaration of conflicting interestsThe authors declared no potential conflicts of interest with respect to the research, authorship, and/or publication of this article.

Thalassemia is a major health challenge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), however previous studies have focused on genetics and molecular characterisation while neglecting culture and society. In this commentary, we discuss how tradition and religion in the UAE (e.g. consanguinity, endogamy, illegality of abortion and in vitro fertilisation, adoption restrictions), and limited academic research, affect the prevention and management of the blood disorder. It is suggested that changing attitudes towards traditional marriage practices, education and awareness campaigns targeting families and young people, and earlier genetic testing, are culturally acceptable solutions to curbing the high incidence of thalassemia in the UAE., (© The Author(s) 2023. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of Royal Society of Tropical Medicine and Hygiene.)

Thalassemia awareness among the youth is vital for policy- making to reduce the disease burden in our country. A descriptive cross-sectional study was conducted via simple random sampling technique for which data was collected from May 2020 to May 2021 through Google forms. Results showed that out of a total of 394 non-medical university students, the majority, i.e. 265 (67.3%), were not aware of prenatal screening. Majority, i.e. 117 (29.7%), agreed that the couple should be screened before marriage, and 190 (48.2%) strongly agreed, while 46 (11.7%) had no knowledge. Students, however, believed premarital screening was either unavailable, not possible, or expensive. Other reasons included custom and culture of arranged marriages and religious reasons. The query that if both the parents are carriers and the foetus has thalassemia major should they have an abortion, showed mixed results. The key to controlling thalassemia is awareness of future parents.

Thalassemia is humanity's most common genetic disorder and represents a serious healthcare challenge in the United Arab Emirates. Increasing awareness is a crucial part of any successful strategy to prevent thalassemia. This research examined knowledge levels and attitudes regarding thalassemia screening, counseling, and monitoring from medical and nonmedical students at Ajman University. This was a cross-sectional, descriptive study conducted among a convenience sample of Ajman university students in the UAE. A questionnaire was distributed which was composed of three main sections. The first section covered participants' demographic data. The second section covered general knowledge of thalassemia and its screening measures. The third section assessed risk factors, regulations, and preventive measures. The data were analyzed using the statistical package for social sciences (SPSS) version 24. A total of 523 participants completed the whole survey. Generally, there was a good level of awareness of thalassemia and thalassemia screening among participants. Approximately three-quarters of participants (76.5%) agreed that thalassemia screening should be compulsory for the individual and the majority of students and 92.7% recognized the importance of thalassemia screening for both partners. Approximately three-quarters (75.9%) of participants disagreed that fetuses with thalassemia should be aborted. More than half of the participants disagreed that thalassemia carriers and patients should be prevented from marrying each other. Generally, older respondents (final year students), respondents who had dealt with thalassemia patients, and respondents with relatives with thalassemia had more comprehensive knowledge of thalassemia. Campaigns focusing on college and university students should be regarded as an essential element of the thalassemia prevention strategy for contemporary UAE society., (© 2022. The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature.)

Introduction: Thalassaemia is an inherited blood disorder, for which definitive treatments remain largely inaccessible. The recommended approach to reduce the disease burden is by prevention through screening. Currently, the implementation of thalassaemia preventive measures is poorly regulated in Indonesia. Thalassaemia prevention and education are best targeted to the youth, but information on their awareness towards thalassaemia is limited. This study aims to investigate the knowledge, attitude and practice (KAP) towards thalassaemia among Indonesian youth., Methods: This observational study took place between January and May 2021. An online questionnaire was disseminated to Indonesian youth aged 15-24. Eligible respondents included carriers, unaffected individuals and individuals with unknown carrier status. The questionnaire comprised 28 questions to assess KAP. A cut-off of 75% was used to categorise participant's KAP into poor or negative and good or positive. Descriptive statistics, χ 2 test, logistic regression and Pearson correlation were performed for data analysis., Results: A total of 906 responses were gathered, and 878 were analysed. Most respondents had poor knowledge (62.1%), positive attitude (83.3%) and poor practice (54.4%) towards thalassaemia. The results implied that respondents had limited understanding regarding the types of thalassaemia and the difference between asymptomatic carriers and individuals without the thalassaemia trait. Many (82.6%) believed they were not carrying thalassaemia trait despite the fact that most (95.7%) never got tested. Age, education, gender, residence and family income were key factors that correlated with or predicted the youth's KAP towards thalassaemia. Older respondents and women were more likely to have good KAP., Conclusion: Thalassaemia screening targeted to the youth is urgently needed, and future interventions must consider sociodemographic factors that may affect how they perceive the disease. Social media appeals to the youth as an important source of information, but school, parents and health professionals should also be involved in delivering education about thalassaemia., Competing Interests: Competing interests: None declared., (© Author(s) (or their employer(s)) 2021. Re-use permitted under CC BY-NC. No commercial re-use. See rights and permissions. Published by BMJ.)