Eduvariome HVP Malaysia: Promoting Knowledge and Awareness on Thalassaemia among Secondary School Students in North-East of Peninsular Malaysia

Background and objective: Thalassaemia prevention which includes public education, screening and pre-marital counselling, forms important components of a prevention programme.  The EduVariome programme under MyHVP Malaysia is an educational intervention programme developed to increase awareness on thalassemia and the importance of thalassemia screening. This study aimed to assess the effectiveness of this an educational intervention programme in increasing the awareness of secondary school students regarding thalassaemia. Method: This study was conducted among secondary school students aged between 14 to 17 years old. The programme was conducted by giving a lecture in the form of a forum related to thalassaemia. Questionnaires to assess the participants’ sunderstanding of the disease were distributed before and after the lecture. The data was analyzed using SPSS Version 22. Results:   A total of 422 secondary school students in Kelantan state took part in this study.  About thirty six percent (36.3%) were male and 63.7% were female. Out of the total respondents, 69.9% had a general knowledge on thalassaemia before the intervention. Knowledge scores were significantly increased after the educational intervention. The total knowledge score, general knowledge on disease and knowledge on the disease prevention were significantly increased after educational intervention from 3.34 (1.95) to 5.15 (1.60), from 2.00 (1.18) to 2.99 (0.96) and from 1.35 (1.08) to 2.17 (0.90), respectively. Conclusion: The educational intervention done by MyHVP EduVariome programme proved to increase the knowledge of the participants about thalassaemia. The knowledge should be delivered through interesting approach as it would impart valuable education and enhance the awareness regarding thalassaemia. With this understanding, it can empower people to volunteer, accept and support thalassaemia carrier screening carried out by the government to prevent thalassaemia child birth in the future.