THALASSEMIA INFUSION SYSTEM

Thalassemia is an inherited blood disease and the most common genetic disease in Sri Lanka. Treatment for Thalassemia often involves regular blood transfusions. If a patient receives blood transfusions, he should not take iron supplements, as doing so can cause a high amount of iron to build up in the body, which can be harmful. Persons who receive significant numbers of blood transfusions need a treatment to remove excess iron from the body. Therefore, an Infusion System is used to administer medicine (Deferoxamine injection) to remove excess iron. An Infusion system is a miniaturized machine used to inject fluid medicine at predefined smaller rates of injection (e.g., 0.1ml – 10ml per hour).

The aim of this project is to fabricate an infusion system locally and provide it to Thalassemia patients free of charge. As a result of long-term research carried out by the SLN Research & Development Unit, Sri Lankans are fortunate to have this Thalassemia Infusion System manufactured at a low cost. While the unit cost of an imported Infusion system ranges from LKR 75,000.00 – 100,000.00, the Sri Lanka Navy developed this infusion system locally for as low as LKR 9,000.00.

Sri Lanka Navy received the National award for the best Medium Scale Manufacturer of the year in Sri Lanka in 2012 from IESL for the production of this system. Additionally, in 2011, the SL Navy obtained the certificate for production from the CDDA (Cosmetics Devices & Drugs Regulatory Authority). As a naval social responsibility project, since 2011 Sri Lanka Navy has manufactured and donated 2,774 Thalassemia Infusion Systems to patients, funded by the Naval Social Responsibility (NSR) fund. The SL Navy Research & Development Unit also provides a silent service dedicated to carrying out responsible repairs of these machines.

Due to this consistent local production, the suppliers of Thalassemia Infusion Systems in the Sri Lankan market are no longer available, and the Sri Lanka Navy has taken full responsibility for fulfilling this national requirement. By doing this project, approximately LKR 250 million has been saved from leaving the country.