From the archives of

“HAEMOCHROMATOSIS SOUTHERN AFRICA

INTERNATIONAL”

This website is sponsored by friends of the Haemochromatosis Society of South Africa, in memory of Frederick (Tom) Warder, who died in South Africa on July 9, 1992; for the benefit of South Africans, Zimbabweans and other expatriates around the world; and for their families at home, with the firm conviction that ALL the ravages of “The Bronze Killer” are preventable by early intervention, whether by family screening or timely diagnosis. We believe that NO ONE needs to suffer the deadly consequences of what begins only as an inherited metabolic disorder…

When the South African society was established in 1987, it became the first Haemochromatosis Society, outside of North America, the first affiliate of the Canadian Hemochromatosis Society, the first member of the International Association, outside of North America, and the first to operate under the umbrella of the IAHS until its own constitution had been drawn up and accepted for registration by the appropriate authorities. Two groups in the United States were already affiliates and members of the IAHS, when, during that visit to South Africa in November of 1987, Marie Warder was able to establish the HSSA

 In due course, South Africa was able to claim many other “firsts”: The first country (and perhaps still the only one) in which a federal government produced and made available a comprehensive booklet on Haemochromatosis; also, with the support of the society’s chief medical adviser, Professor T: Bothwell, the first country in the world in which HH blood was accepted for use by a Blood Transfusion Service.

Produced in both English and Afrikaans, the booklet which the South Africans produced  — entitled “Haemochromatosis and You” — provided, in addition to a list of knowledgeable specialists in every province to whom general practitioners could turn for advice, the addresses of trained ‘genetic’ nurses who were available to visit families in outlying areas, for counseling and to draw blood for testing. In time, as some of these nurses became friendly with Marie Warder, they would contribute in a significant manner to the annual national awareness week; especially in May 1994, to South Africa’s participation in the first International Awareness week – which was launched from Johannesburg.  

The first International Newsletter also originated in what is now known as Gauteng.               July 19, 1992