ISLAMABAD: The National Assembly on Tuesday passed private members bills for the first time in four years.

The two bills, which were passed on the same day, are ‘The National Commission on the Status of Women (Amendment) Bill, 2016’ which was tabled by a Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) legislator and ‘The Compulsory Blood Test of the Relatives of Thalassaemia Patient Bill, 2016’ which was tabled by a PPP legislator.

The bill regarding the National Commission on the Status of Women (NCSW) says a time limit should be fixed for the appointment of the head of the commission.

The mover of the NCSW bill, MQM’s Dr Nikhat Shakeel Khan told Dawn that before this, there was no time limit for the appointment of a head for the commission.

“It has now been decided that a new head will be appointed within 30 days of the end of the former head’s tenure,” she said.

The bill was moved because the seat of the NCSW’s head remained vacant for over nine months recently. Khawar Mumtaz’ three-year tenure ended on Dec 31, 2015 after which acting charge of the commission was given to Minister National Health Services Saira Afzal Tarar for almost a month.

After the expiry of her tenure, the commission remained headless.

The Parliamentary Committee on Appointment of the Chairperson of the NCSW, chaired by MNA Tehmina Daulatana on Oct 5, 2016 once again made Ms Mumtaz the chairperson of the commission.

The NCSW is responsible for the empowerment of women in Pakistan and was established in June 2000. It is the result of the government’s national and international commitments including the Beijing Declaration and Platform for Action 1995 and the National Action Plan for Women 1998.

The bill regarding thalassaemia was tabled by PPP’s Dr Azra Fazal Pechuhu and says that the blood relatives of all thalassaemia patients should be tested as an attempt to control the disease from spreading.

According to the bill, all the clinics, hospitals and centres handling and treating thalassaemia patients will ensure that the blood relatives of thalassaemia patients are screened for the disease. The test will be compulsory for siblings, first cousins and uncles and aunts who are related to the patient by blood. Relatives of a patient are also to be tested before they are married to ensure they are not carrying the disease.

The Minister for Capital Administration and Development Division (CADD) Dr Tariq Fazal Chaudhry welcomed the bill and urged the provincial government to follow it. He said the bill was an important one, had been pending for a long time and that he hoped it will help eradicate the disease.

There are three types of thalassaemia including minor, major and intermedia. Patients of thalassaemia major need medical treatment all their lives, those with thalassaemia intermedia can get the disease at any time and those with thalassaemia minor live normal lives but can pass on the disease to their children.

The bodies of thalassaemia patients stop making red blood cells and patients need regular blood transfusions. The only known cure is a bone marrow transplant which is very expensive and requires a donor. The disease can be diagnosed with a simple blood test. Patients have to take medicines worth thousands of rupees and have to have a blood transfusion once or twice a month.

Because the treatment is so costly, it was believed that pre-emptive measures, including legislation, should be taken to control the disease, which has been increasing in Pakistan.

According to an estimate, five percent of the general population of Pakistan, which is 10 million people, are carrying the disease and about 5,000 children are born with thalassaemia major each year.

Published in Dawn February 8th, 2017