Outreach and diagnosis: Saudi Arabia's experience

Abstract

The World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) is an international nonprofit organization dedicated to improving and sustaining the lives of individuals with haemophilia. According to the World Federation of Hemophilia (WFH) annual global survey, haemophilia A has a prevalence of 105 per million males and 28 per million males of haemophilia B in a global population of 6 billion. The annual global survey reported 295 000 individuals with haemophilia, von Willebrand disease and other bleeding disorders in 113 countries. WFH estimated approximately 70% of patients with haemophilia under diagnosed globally. The variability of occurrence of these disorders in different ethnicities, lack of awareness and diagnostic facilities/expertise led to the prevalence of other bleeding disorders being much more underestimated. The main reason for the gap between detected (reported) and estimated numbers of patients with bleeding disorders includes the lack of laboratory facilities and trained personnel required to establish an accurate diagnosis for bleeding disorders.