Delegation Visit to Germany – 21-23 April 2016

Germany is a country in which thalassaemia and SCD, rare in the indigenous population, are increasing due to the continued migration flow, exacerbated by the recent refugee flow from Syria. It is estimated that there were, until last year 1600 thalassaemia patients but this number will have increased in 2016 considerably. Sensitisation of the health services is needed TIF, represented by Ms Katerina Nassis, attended a symposium on benign haematology titled the Hämatologie Heute (German for “haematology today”), which was held between the 21st and the 23rd of April 2016, and is organized jointly by Prof Holger Cario of Ulm University and Dr Stephan Lobitz, of the Charité Universitätsmedizin, Berlin.

The symposium will be held in Scharnhorststr (Karl Storz endoscopes teaching centre). This 3-day symposium is the fifth to be organized in Germany and is definitely a story of success that helped to “resuscitate” haematology in Germany but also regionally. Topics covered during the symposium include thalassemia, neutropenia, unclear anaemia, neonatal haemochromatosis and pregnancy in Sickle Cell Disease. TIF priority is still the organisation of patient association, able to represent all patients in the country and able to support and guide new migrant patients to the appropriate services. The sensitisation of health services and the need for physician education on thalassaemia is also a pressing need, as patient numbers increase.