First-year results of an expanded humanitarian aid programme for haemophilia in resource-constrained countries

INTRODUCTION The gaps in haemophilia treatment around the world are enormous; approximately 60% of an estimated 475 000 individuals are not identified. Of the 187 000 diagnosed, 30% (57 000) access clotting factor replacement therapy. Since 1996, humanitarian aid distributed by the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) has played a minor, yet vital role providing life-saving clotting factor to countries in emergency situations. Donated amounts have been small and sporadic, often salvaging short-dated products, providing little opportunity to leverage donations with governments. In 2015, a prospective donation programme of 100 million I.U. per year of extended half-life factor VIII and IX over 10 years was established, necessitating the development of new logistics and training programmes by WFH. AIM To measure the impact of a greatly expanded haemophilia humanitarian aid program. MATERIALS AND METHODS In 2016, the first full year of the expanded programme, WFH, distributed products to 58 countries with factor VIII usage