World Haemochromatosis Week
GPs may have noticed that the inaugural World Haemochromatosis Week (WHW) has been underway this week. GPs can still get involved by starting a conversation about haemochromatosis on your social media channels or any other suitable forum by following, liking and sharing the news on Facebook, YouTube and Twitter.
The key messages of the week are:
- Haemochromatosis is a common but often under-diagnosed inherited disorder which causes too much iron to be absorbed and stored in the body.
- People experiencing fatigue and joint pain over an extended period should ask their GPs about haemochromatosis.
- Too much iron is bad and can lead to serious medical problems affecting the heart, pancreas, liver and joints. Unfortunately for some it may result in liver cancer. The good news is that it is easily treated if detected early and is no barrier to a normal, healthy life.
In summary: Haemochromatosis is tricky to say, simple to test, easy to treat, but tragic to ignore.
How you can help raise awareness
Below are a few things GPs can do to support Haemochromatosis Australia during WHW or the month of June.
The Red Cross International Missing Type campaign and Red 25 are two campaigns where individuals and companies can help raise awareness of haemochromatosis during WHW and the month of June, while also supporting the Red Cross Blood services. The Missing Type International Day on June 12th follows WHW. Haemochromatosis Australia will be involved and is also registered as a Red25 organisation. They would love if people would consider donating blood to support the Red Cross Missing Type campaign as a member of the Haemochromatosis Australia Red25 Group during June https://my.donateblood.com.au/app/red25_tallies.
This 2 min animation explaining haemochromatosis could be shared via social media during world week and it would be appreciated if you could share a link to the website during WHW encouraging people to support the work Haemochromatosis Australia does by making a donation or purchasing a piece of 'wearable art' from HA's beautiful Overload collection. Designed and made by French born Australian artist MO, these are great conversation starters, the aim during World Haemochromatosis Week!
