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WFH Humanitarian Aid Program helps male Sri Lankan patient with VWD

The WFH Humanitarian Aid Program works with stakeholders worldwide to make sustainable care possible in countries with limited economic resources. As care improves, visits to the emergency room for acute bleeds are reduced and planned visits for prophylactic treatment increase. This then has the additional effect of allowing specialists to allocate resources to other procedures, including the diagnosis of new patients. Diagnosis typically involves testing for hemophilia, but also for less severe conditions such as von Willebrand disease (VWD).

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This year, a 57-year-old male patient was admitted to a hospital with a bleed in Anuradhapura, Sri Lanka. Because of the training and educational work the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program has done in the country, doctors knew to test him for a bleeding disorder, and he was diagnosed with VWD. With this information, physicians were able to determine the best course of action for treatment. The patient underwent several procedures, including a colonoscopy, a blood transfusion, and sclerotherapy. He received VWD concentrate and non-factor replacement therapy during his treatment—both donated by the Program. His condition improved after a few days, and he will be followed-up at the hematology clinic.

This kind of comprehensive care is only possible when a country’s specialists are trained on looking for—and treating—a bleeding disorder. In Sri Lanka, the level of care for the bleeding disorders community has increased dramatically thanks the support of the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program. To learn more about how things have improved in Sri Lanka, watch this video or click on the player below.

The WFH Humanitarian Aid Program has been active in Sri Lanka for many years. The Program has donated over 57 million IUs of donated factor and nearly 420,000 mg of non-factor replacement therapy since 2015. Over 7.2 million IUs of factor, and nearly 144,000 mg of non-factor replacement therapy, were donated in 2022 alone. To find out more about the 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.

We’ve accomplished a lot this year, we need your help to continue strong.

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