The rate of thalassemia minor has increased over the past two years, said genetic specialist Hosseinali Saberi. “Although thalassemia major is under control in the country, the incidence of thalassemia minor has seen an increasing trend over the past few years,” he said, sepidonline.ir reported. The number of babies born with thalassemia major has generally declined from 2,500 to less than 200 annually since 1995. He said the Health Ministry is currently implementing an expansive plan to prevent such genetic disorders through premarital genetic tests. At present, there are about 20,000 people living with thalassemia in Iran, and around 4% of them have thalassemia minor. Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder which results in excessive destruction of red blood cells, which leads to anemia.
