National Registry          Being the Thalassemia Center of the Philippines, the primary goal is to formulate a national registry with nationwide coverage and the establishment of satellite centers in the different regions of the Philippines Ways and means          The aim is to raise funds to support the numerous medical needs of indigent thalassemic children. Public Awareness Program          This is aimed at public information dissemination regarding Thalassemia through media involvement, workshops, creation of website and distribution of hand-outs both in English and vernaculars. Blood Program          Directed at creating a scheme that will ensure continous supply of safe blood. Government Legislation Program          Aimed at filing a resolution that will make Thalassemia a public health concern and ensuring government support for its different programs. Support Group          Creation of a support group consisting of patients, parents, doctors and friends of Thalassemics for wholistic approach to management of thalassemics, that is, help them cope up and live with the disease by providing emotional, psycho spiritual support, arts, crafts, and special education.

Facts         Cooley's Anemia, also known as Thalassemia Major, is a fatal genetic blood disease that results in the failure to produce sufficient hemoglobin, the oxygen-carrying component of blood cells.         There is no cure. To stay alive patients require frequent transfusions of red blood cells, as many as 52 pints of blood per year. These transfusions have a deadly side effect. Because there is no natural way for the body to eliminate iron, the iron in the transfused blood cells builds up and becomes toxic to tissues and organs, particularly the liver and heart.         To help remove excess iron, patients undergo the difficult and painful infusion of a drug, desferal. A needle is attached to a pump and worn under the skin of the stomach or legs five to seven times a week for up to twelve hours. Desferal binds iron in a process called "chelation". Chelated iron is later eliminated, reducing the amount of stored iron. Compliance with Desferal is vital to long term survival.         Effective iron chelation improves the prognosis for patients. But, the long-term impact of high iron levels and multiple transfusions leads to the onset of secondary complications. Clinicians are working to treat diabetes, osteoporosis, endocrine dysfunction, hepatitis and blood viruses as well as cardiac disease and liver cirrhosis. At the same time, researchers are challenged by the need to deliver new methods to chelate iron and reach a better understanding of optimal transfusion levels and iron elimination.