International Thalassaemia Day is marked on May 8 every year to raise awareness among the general public and decision-makers about thalassaemia across the globe. This day commemorates the lifelong and difficult struggles of patients living with this inherited blood disorder to lead a better life. This day is observed by the Thalassaemia International Federation (TIF). World Thalassaemia Day theme 2020 is ''The dawning of a new era for thalassaemia: Time for a global effort to make novel therapies accessible and affordable to patients". For more info, see here.

The American Society of Hematology (ASH) has created a resource webpage in the midst of the global pandemic to provide public health professionals and the general public with haematology-specific up-to-date COVID-19 information in a series of Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs), as well as insights into COVID-19 treatment and several links to relevant resources, including research updates and health e-stats. Specifically, in the non-malignant category, ASH publishes FAQs on sickle cell disease (SCD, link) and thalassaemia (link) to help guide providers who are less familiar with these diseases to care and treat SCD and thalassaemia patients infected with COVID-19. All of the COVID-19 content is free to access. For more information, see here.

ERN-EuroBloodNet has established a European collaborative platform for collecting information to quickly identify the impact of COVID-19 on patients with red blood cell disorders, especially sickle cell disease and thalassaemia, and to understand the impact of risk factors, including age and disease complications on the course and severity of COVID-19 infection. The proposed registry has been developed by Vall d'Hebron Research Institute using Redcap, a secure web application for building and managing online databases. The network of hospitals created from this registry will continuously analyse the information on the clinical management and outcomes in hematological patients and will collaboratively make recommendations for COVID-19 management in this group of patients. Additionally, this collaborative effort will support daily medical practice and enable inter-professional consultation of complex cases. Individual patients' data will be gathered in a codified way. For more information, see here.

The current SARS-CoV-2 infection [COVID-19] affects primarily the respiratory system, from nasopharyngeal symptoms to full blown pneumonia. Most of the severe and fatal COVID-19 cases seem to be associated with specific high-risk populations, including people over 65 years of age and those with compromised immune status and chronic conditions. Patients with sickle cell disease (SCD) have a weakened immune system and underlying cardiopulmonary co-morbidities that may predispose them to poor outcomes if they become infected with COVID-19. As to better understand how this new virus impacts SCD patients and to provide the best available care for the SCD community worldwide, the Secure-SCD registry has been established in the midst of the current COVID-19 pandemic to capture pediatric and adult SCD cases infected with COVID-19. Providers who care for these patients are encouraged to access the registry here and to report all their cases of COVID-19. The registry contains only de-identified data and is constantly updated to provide accurate and helpful health information and data concerning the disease.