I am a disabled reader of yours in Perth, Western Australia. I have lived with quadriplegia for thirty years. I am prompted to write to you after reading about the Malaysian Minister for Health's recent campaign to combat thalassaemia.

Is this a campaign that is focused more on making people with thalassaemia 'go away' rather than put the emphasis on care and support? Yes, there is a place for counseling couples who are carriers of this disease so they can choose whether to have children or not. But it particularly disturbed me to see abortion publicly advocated for by the same person who is responsible for health and well-being.

I don't want to suggest that abortion as a 'solution' to disability is in any way an exclusively Malaysian approach. Unfortunately it is widespread, including in Australia. I think this is so because people with disabilities are often thought to be 'suffering' unbearably from their impairments and are often assumed to be better off dead. Of course this is not so.

What disabled and chronically ill people are often mostly suffering from is public attitude towards them. Yes, thalassaemia treatment involves regular blood transfusions and medication. Not something anyone would choose as part of their lifestyle. But it should be remembered that many experts agree that people whose health are directly affected by thalassaemia can live normal and rewarding lives, be it with the added difficulties presented by ongoing treatment.
I would, under normal circumstances, not choose to sit in a wheelchair all the time either. But the wheelchair my 'treatment' if you like - helps me to get on with living, with being a husband and father and with my work.

It has been said that a truly civilised society is recognised by the way in which it supports its most vulnerable citizens. This includes people with thalassaemia. Disability and chronic illness are part of the human condition. It would benefit all of us to put the emphasis on how to best live with them, rather than make people that have these conditions 'go away'.

The writer is Adjunct Researcher/Lecturer, Edith Cowan University, Joondalup, Perth, Western Australia.