Thalassemia Awareness Program

For the very first time, the Rotaract Club of University of Peradeniya was able to conduct an online awareness program with the highest number of participants, representing several universities and targeting one of the most common genetic disorders in the contemporary Sri Lankan society- Thalassemia. The former plan was to conduct this awareness program with a blood testing campaign, but due to the current situation in the country impacted by the Covid-19 pandemic, the committee moved to execute the online awareness session while the blood test camp was put on hold for a later date.

The resource person for the program was Rotarian President Dr. W.M.M. Arambepola, the paediatrician in charge at the National Thalassemia Hospital and who has been working with patients of this disorder for a long time. The session was held for almost two hours with a presentation and active participation of the audience who were enthusiastically engaged in an interactive session throughout the program.

Apart from the online awareness program, two quiz competitions were held before the session. The answers from the competitors were obtained via Google forms and a higher engagement was seen from the participants. The answers with the names of the winners were published after the online awareness program.  The overall success of the program was seen with the great feedback given by the participants and the session was wrapped up by indicating the importance of raising the public awareness on genetic disorders like Thalassemia.