O’Brian, Joel, and Nathan are three boys with severe hemophilia A with inhibitors who live in Trinidad and Tobago. Aged ten to thirteen, lack of access to sufficient care has left them with permanent disabilities. Fortunately, thanks to factor provided by the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program, they have seen their quality of life improve drastically, and they have not had a bleed since going on treatment.
For the three boys, hemophilia was a daily challenge. They often missed school because of bleeds, and Karen, their mother, had to quit her job to care for them and bring them on hospital visits. Eventually, O’Brian and Joel developed arthropathy of the left and right knee joints respectively, and Nathan lost vision in his right eye from an accident and the subsequently unavailability of bypassing agent.
The factor provided to the brothers—which has been used for acute care and also for prophylaxis—has virtually eliminated bleeds for the brothers, and has allowed them to live more normal lives. They can now go to school, take part in activities with their peers, and even participate in sports like swimming. Karen is also happier because her boys are healthier and because she can now go back to work.
The WFH Humanitarian Aid Program provided nearly 740 thousand IUs of factor to Trinidad and Tobago in 2020. Since 2015, over 3 million IUs have helped patients in the Caribbean country.
To find out more about the WFH Humanitarian Aid 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 Genzyme and Sobi, our Founding Visionary Contributors; Bayer and Roche, our Visionary Contributors; Grifols, our Leadership Contributor; and our Contributors, CSL Behring and Takeda. To learn more about the WFH Humanitarian Aid Program, visit www.treatmentforall.org.