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Thalassemias are emerging as a global public health concern. Due to remarkable success in the reduction of childhood mortality by controlling infectious diseases in developing countries, thalassemias are likely to be a major public health concern in the coming decades in South Asia. Despite the fact that Bangladesh lies in the world's thalassemia belt, the information on different aspects (epidemiology, clinical course, mortality, complications and treatment outcomes) of thalassemias is lacking. In this comprehensive review, the aim is to to depict the epidemiological aspects of thalassemias, mutation profile and current treatment and management practices in the country by sharing the experience of dealing with 1178 cases over 2009-2014 time periods in a specialized thalassemia treatment centre. We have also discussed the preventative strategies of thalassemias from the context of Bangladesh which could be effective for other developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unlike India and Pakistan, no specialised haemophilia treatment centre is established in Bangladesh and other lower-middle income countries. According to the World Federation of Haemophilia (WFH), an estimated 1,125,000 males are currently living with haemophilia worldwide, including 418,000 with severe haemophilia.1,2 Notably, about 80% of people with haemophilia (PWH) reside in developing countries.3 Haemophilia is an incurable disease except for some advanced therapies (i.e. gene therapy) offering a potential cure, which are only available for a limited number of patients.4 Patients require life-long expensive factor replacement therapy. Haemophilia is a rare X-linked bleeding disorder affecting clotting factor VIII (Haemophilia A) or factor IX (Haemophilia B) genes, particularly manifested among males, while females are usually asymptomatic carriers. [Extracted from the article]

South Asian countries are facing a hidden breast cancer epidemic. A significant proportion of the breast cancer cases occur in premenopausal women. Knowledge of the various aspects of breast cancer in different geographical regions is limited in South Asia. In this article, we review the Bangladeshi perspective of the epidemiology, risk factors, pathology, diagnosis and treatment of breast cancer. As in other developing countries, because of the lack of breast cancer awareness in Bangladeshi population and inadequate access to health care, most patients are diagnosed at an advanced stage of the disease. Early detection has a crucial impact on overall treatment outcomes. To battle against breast cancer in resource-limited countries like Bangladesh, it is not feasible to set up a parallel health service system solely dedicated to cancer. Therefore, a cost-effective public health strategy is needed which could reach a large number of women in the country. Considering all these issues, we propose an innovative femalebased primary healthcare approach focused on awareness, screening and early detection of breast cancer in Bangladesh. This preventive strategy could be a model for other resource-limited developing countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

South Asia is the hotspot of beta-thalassemia, with an estimated 200,000 patients whose lives depend on regular blood transfusion. Due to COVID-19 pandemic, many countries have adopted unprecedented lockdown to minimize the spread of transmission. Restriction of nationwide human mobility and fear of COVID-19 infection has put thalassemia patients in a life-threatening situation because of an acute shortage of blood supply. As a public health preparedness strategy during a crisis like COVID-19 pandemic, the plights of thalassemia patients should be considered. Government-sponsored community blood-banks needs to be established or coverage expanded as a safety net for the thalassemia patients in lower- and middle-income countries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]