Published Paper Details:

Abstract Introduction:Thalassemia, a hereditary autosomal recessive disorder, imposes a major public health burden in an area known as thalassemia belt. Thalassemia belt extends from Mediterranean region to middle east and south east Asia. To avert the fiscal and social burden on health system, countries have devised and adopted preventive strategies. Although, WHO developed and disseminated a preventive strategy for prevention of hemoglobinopathies, including thalassemia, countries must adjust it according to the prevailing sociocultural determinants within countries. Objectives: This study aims to investigate acceptance of the preventive measures for thalassemia i.e. premarital counselling, prenatal diagnosis and abortion in existing body of literature. Furthermore, it seeks barriers towards successful implementation of these preventive approaches. Methodology:Online search engines (Google scholar and PubMed) were used for exploring related studies that meets the inclusion criteria. Studies conducted from 2000 onwards were illegible for the study. Result: With strictly following PRISMA methodology, 11 studies were included for the full-text reading from the total of 4097 articles. The results of studies varied widely; for instance, the acceptance of premarital counseling ranged from about 59% to 84% by different studies that had been investigated fully. Similarly, Acceptance of prenatal diagnosis was reported from 100% to as low as 74% by studies conducted in India. Conclusion: With the variations in the results of studies conducted in this area, further investigations are crucial to reflect the true acceptance of each of preventive approach. This will contribute in successful development of strategies that can halt the raising trend of thalassemia in India effectively.