GÉANT, EUMEDCONNECT and ITHANET – revolutionising Thalassaemia treatment across Europe and the Mediterranean

The Challenge

Thalassaemia is an inherited blood disorder, and with related conditions affects 300,000 newborn infants worldwide.  Common in populations originating from the Mediterranean it is usually fatal within the first decade of life unless treated. While there has been considerable success in preventative programmes in some European countries, many growing states do not have the resources to effectively treat the disease.

The Solution

ITHANET, the Electronic Infrastructure for Thalassaemia Research Network provides a central hub for researchers, clinicians, patients and the public across Europe and the Mediterranean, linking them through the GÉANT and EUMEDCONNECT research networks. It provides a central information and communications environment that enables closer collaboration between those involved in combating thalassaemia, giving them the ability to carry out joint research, pool resources, share best practice and use video conferencing to provide second opinions.

Key Benefits

ITHANET is enabling collaboration between researchers in 19 countries and is revolutionising Thalassaemia treatment across the Mediterranean basin. It is improving communication, enabling telemedicine through second opinions provided by video conferencing, giving universal access to research databases and underpinning the sharing of best practice and new innovations.  Together, ITHANET and high speed research networks are revolutionising the study and treatment of Thalassaemia and consequently saving lives across the Mediterranean.

​“The Egyptian Thalassaemia Association is working hard to reduce dependency on expensive and frequently unsafe transfusion therapy. E-infrastructures are enabling us to study and experiment with drug-based alternatives, to conduct clinical trials across several research sites and to draw on the expertise and insight of scientists across Europe. It is difficult to overstate the importance to thalassaemia sufferers of the existence of reliable data networks like EUMEDCONNECT2 and GÉANT2.” Professor Amal El-Beshlawy, University of Cairo and President of the Egyptian Thalassaemia Association

Watch the video