Ayoub Tarish has severe hemophilia A and has suffered from severe knee issues related to repeated bleeds for most of his life. “I had osteoporosis in my both knees which made it difficult for me to walk without pain,” Tarish explains. “I spent all my money, and my family took me to many hospitals in my country but to no avail due to the deterioration of health services because of the war [in Yemen], so doctors advised me to travel to India for the surgery.”
In India, Tarish was able to get in touch with the Hemophilia Federation (India) (HFI), where Prem Roop Alva, the President of HFI, worked with representatives of St. John’s hospital to schedule knee surgery. St. John’s Medical College Hospital—one of the largest in Bangalore—is a 1,200 person super-specialty hospital that provides a number of services to the community, including outreach programs in rural areas. The HFI was able to work with representatives at the hospital to secure a concession for the cost of the surgery and was also able to raise additional funds to pay for the procedure. This last accomplishment is notable because Tarish had exhausted a large portion of his own assets just getting to India.
The operation was successfully performed in June 2022 by a team of doctors including hematologist Cecil Ross, MD, and orthopedic surgeon Mallikarjuna Swamy. B., MD. Factor for the operation was provided by the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program. After two weeks of recovery, Tarish is now able to walk pain free and lead a more normal life.
“Hemophilia Federation (India) is highly indebted and grateful to the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program, which has helped us support more than 8,000 patients to manage bleeds, do corrective surgeries and save many lives,” says Prem Roop Alva, the President of HFI. “Donations, along with training support provided by the WFH, have immensely helped the day-to-day lives of our patients. We draw a lot of confidence from this initiative to advocate with the government and work towards our collective vision of Treatment for All.”
Over 84 million IUs of factor were donated to India through the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program in 2021. Since 2015, over 310 million IUs of factor were donated to India. To find out more about the WFH Humanitarian Program, please click here.
About the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program
The WFH Humanitarian Aid Program improves the lack of access to care and treatment by providing much-needed support for people with inherited bleeding disorders in developing countries. By providing patients with a more predictable and sustainable flow of humanitarian aid donations, the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program makes it possible for patients to receive consistent and reliable access to treatment and care. None of this would be possible without the generous support of Sanofi and Sobi, our Founding Visionary Contributors; Bayer, CSL Behring and Roche, our Visionary Contributors; Grifols, our Leadership Contributor; and Takeda and Japan Blood Products Organization, our Contributors. To learn more about the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program, visit www.treatmentforall.org.
