• Only Nepal and Bangladesh in South Asia do not provide free treatment for the disease

Kathmandu, April 19 People suffering from haemophilia need financial support from the government as treatment of the disease is highly expensive, according to doctors. Krishna Bahadur Adhikari, 29, was diagnosed with haemophilia disorder at the age of 13. When he visited a dentist after continuous bleeding from his teeth and he was referred to Bir Hospital where it was confirmed that he had haemophilia disorder. “Treatment for this disorder is very expensive. However, Nepal Haemophilia Society is providing us factor free of cost,” said Adhikari. There are more than 600 haemophilia patients who require factor, which is very expensive, said Dr Bishesh Paudel, chief haematologist at Civil Service Hospital. He said common people in the country could not afford treatment of haemophilia. “The government has to provide free treatment to such patients,” he added. Haemophilia is a genetic disorder that impairs the body’s ability to make blood clots, a process needed to stop bleeding. This results in continuous bleeding in case of any physical injury. Around 618 patients diagnosed with haemophilia are getting treatment at the hospital, according to the data with Nepal Haemophilia Society while the data with World Health Organisation shows that there are around 3,000 such patients in the country. Though there are very few patients suffering from this disorder, the government hasn’t done anything for their treatment. Paudel said that one unit factor costs one US dollar while a person with this disorder requires 2,000 to 3,000 units of factor to stop bleeding. Bir Hospital, TU Teaching Hospital, Kathmandu Medical College and Civil Service Hospital provide treatment for haemophilia. “We have been conducting surgeries of haemophilia with the financial aid provided by non-governmental organisations and they are also providing required units of factors for the patients,” said Dr Bishesh. Only Nepal and Bangladesh are the countries in South Asia that do not provide factors free of cost. “Haemophilia patients require huge sum of money even for diagnosis of the disease,” said Dr Niraj Singh, a haematologist at Bir Hospital. Although Bir Hospital had established Haemophilia Care Centre 20 years ago but due to lack of required factors, the centre became dysfunctional. Speaking to haemophilia patients on the occasion of World Haemophilia Day yesterday, Dr Singh said that the government should provide the medicine free of cost.