The Global Alliance for Progress (GAP) Program is designed to greatly increase the diagnosis and treatment of people with hemophilia and other bleeding disorders in targeted developing countries. Egypt and Jordan were part of the first decade of the GAP program (2003 to 2013)—and are now part of the second decade of the program (2013 to 2022).
The GAP program has allowed Egypt and Jordan to greatly increase the level of care they are able to provide to the bleeding disorders community. One remarkable success for the region is successful outreach and identification campaigns in Egypt, where 700 people with hemophilia (PWH) have been identified since the start of the GAP Second Decade Program.
Outreach and identification campaigns have been successful for many reasons, but one of the key elements has been education and information: “If [specialists] are more aware of this and more acquainted with the disease this is going to help patients all over Egypt,” explains Mervat Mattar, MD.
GAP helped strengthen the overall organization of hemophilia care by working closely with governments, and by engaging the young bleeding disorders community. Ahmed Mohamed Samir, Youth Advocate, Egypt, said that a big part of GAP is creating a support network between people and countries. He explained that feelings of isolation by the community can be avoided by educating people with hemophilia and showing them that their condition is not unique.
While the GAP Program has had a strong impact on Egypt and Jordan, the goal of Treatment for All still remains. Maram Nawaiseh, MD, Jordan explains: “We need more trained medical specialists and medical staff to be available in [remote] hospitals [to help patients] have the right medical care.”
To share your stories about outreach and identification, please visit www.worldhemophiliaday.org/ourstories.
To learn more about the WFH Global Alliance program (GAP), please visit www.wfh.org.
The GAP Program is supported by funding from: Bayer, Biotest, CSL Behring, Kedrion, Pfizer, Sanofi Genzyme, Shire, and SOBI. The WFH would also like to thank the World Health Organization for its support of the Program.
