Turkey Hemophilia Association President and Istanbul University Rector Prof. Dr. Bülent Zülfikar said, “Turkey is one of the 10 countries in the world that offers free treatment to hemophilia patients.”
The 21st International Hemophilia Congress of Turkey is being held at the rectorate building of Istanbul University. At the congress, expert physicians from Turkey and around the world are discussing scientific research and innovations in hemophilia treatment methods with various sessions. The opening speech of the press conference held on the second day of the congress was made by Prof. Dr. Bülent Zülfikar, President of the Hemophilia Association of Turkey and Rector of Istanbul University. Cesar Garrido, President of the World Federation of Hemophilia, Prof. Dr. Kaan Kavaklı, President of the Hemophilia Federation and the Congress, and Prof. Dr. Yeşim Dargaud, Head of the Hemostasis Center at Lyon University, were the speakers at the meeting.
In his opening speech, President of the Hemophilia Association of Turkey and Rector of Istanbul University Prof. Dr. Bülent Zülfikar said that there are 10 clinical research centers working on hemophilia in Turkey. He also noted that Turkey is one of the 10 countries in the world that offers free medication and treatment to approximately 80 thousand hemophilia patients. Cesar Garrido, President of the World Federation of Hemophilia, announced at the meeting held at Istanbul University Rectorate building that there are more than 1 million hemophilia patients in the world. Garrido emphasized that Turkey has shown its sensitivity to hemophilia with more than 10 clinical researches.
“There are 80 thousand thousand hemophilia patients in Turkey”
Prof. Dr. Zülfikar used the following statements in his speech: “Hemophilia is one of the leading hereditary bleeding diseases. It is a disease characterized by bleeding, a genetic disorder that starts at birth. There are many systems in the body. One of them is the coagulation system. When there is an incision, impact or surgical intervention, the body closes the bleeding tissue after a while. Since hemophilia patients lack the substance or protein that enables this, bleeding cannot be stopped and leakage begins. Therefore, it is known as a lifelong disease characterized by bleeding. We have been working on hemophilia for more than 40 years. In our country, 10 centers are able to conduct clinical research in the field of hemophilia. Turkey is one of the 10 countries in the world that provides medication and treatment to hemophilia patients free of charge. When we add carriers to hemophilia patients in Turkey, we call it approximately 80 thousand. It is estimated that there are 1 million 200 thousand cases in the world. Unfortunately, only half of this has been recorded. Our endeavor is not only for our own country, the medicines we will produce in this field also have a global value. Turkey can take its place in health tourism in this field as well.”
“We estimate that there are over 1 million hemophilia patients in the world”
Cesar Garrido, President of the World Federation of Hemophilia, who attended the 21st International Hemophilia Congress in Turkey, stated that there are approximately 340 thousand diagnosed hemophilia patients and 500 thousand undiagnosed patients worldwide. On the other hand, Garrido stated that they estimate that there are more than 1 million hemophilia patients in total and emphasized that they are in an effort to reach these patients and that there have been significant changes in the field of treatment in the last 10 years. Garrido continued his speech as follows: “In Turkey, the opportunities provided by both the association and the state to hemophilia patients are very important. Turkey plays a very important role in the world with its own research in the field of hemophilia and access to medication. I came to the congress to get information and benefit from these experiences.”
The congress, which will continue until Saturday, September 28th, includes patients, patient relatives and over 400 participants, as well as specialist doctors in the field.
