Highlighting patients' resilience

Thalassemia Society hosts art exhibition in Sulaymaniyah

2024-07-31 | 23:40

SULAYMANIYAH – The Thalassemia Society in Sulaymaniyah hosted an art exhibition on Wednesday featuring works by 17 individuals of various ages affected by thalassemia. The exhibition showcased their struggles through their paintings.

Aweza Fakhreddin, a thalassemia patient and participant in the exhibition, told 964media, “I urge every patient to accept themselves as they are, then society will accept them. If you don’t accept yourself, society won’t either.” She emphasized that self-acceptance has been crucial for her.

Fakhreddin shared that she often experiences severe discomfort due to lack of blood and treatment complications. “While treatments can be beneficial, they also have their drawbacks,” she added.

Another participant, Didar Bakr, highlighted the expressive power of the paintings. “These paintings vividly depict the pains and struggles they endure, especially this painting of a child with thalassemia,” Bakr told 964media.

The painting is about a child who needs to move and play, but instead, their parents have to spend hours for blood transfusions, restricting the child’s movement.

“To me, this is my most beautiful painting because it shows the pain and suffering I’ve witnessed over the years,” Bakr said about the painting.

A painting by Didar Bakr, displayed at an art exhibition in Sulaymaniyah, showing a child struggling with thalassemia

She further explained, “I drew this because since I was six months old, I have experienced this pain and have continuously received blood transfusions.”

Per the Erbil Health Directorate, the Kurdistan Region currently has 3,510 thalassemia patients. Erbil has the highest number of cases at 1,054, followed by Duhok with 1,200, Sulaymaniyah with 856; and more patients distributed across other districts.

Thalassemia, a hereditary blood disorder, reduces the percentage of healthy red blood cells and lowers levels of hemoglobin, the protein that gives red blood cells their color and enables oxygen transport throughout the body.