Dr Duru Malyali

Dr Duru Malyali, a surgeon by profession, is a founding member of the Thalassemia Patient & Parent Association (TADAD) in Istanbul – the first association founded by parents of thalassaemia patients in Turkey. As President of TADAD he has succeeded in spreading awareness and knowledge about thalassaemia in the community and played an instrumental part in establishing 12 TADAD branches across Turkey, in cities where thalassaemia is highly prevalant. Furthermore, he founded TADAD Frankfurt in 1994 to support Turkish thalassaemia patients in Germany.

As TADAD, Dr. Malyali organized what TIF and WHO European/Mediterranean Haemoglobinopathy working group started as Thalassemia Prevention Programme that is known as Cyprus Experiment in the world; the Thalassemia Screening Centers to test Thalassemia before marriage for the first time in Turkey with the support of the Local Ministry of Health in 1992 in Hatay, in 1994 in Denizli in order to prevent the Thalassemic childbirth.

With persistent advocating, Dr Malyali succeded to set up a Thalassemia Working Group in the Ministry of Health, laying the foundations for the development and implementation of a nationwide Thalassaemia Prevention Programme.
Personal circumstances did not allow Dr Malyali to be active in the global community of thalassaemia in the early 2000s, but he remained a close follower of all developments and most importantly of TIF’s work. Returning to active service in 2006 he has been a fervent supporter of the independence of natioanl patient associations from the medical community.

Elected in 2011 to TIF’s Board of Directors, Dr Malyali believes in the empowerment of patients through the acquisition of knowledge and sharing of experiences. Thus he has provided an invaluable asset for TIF’s Educational Programme.