In the past Thalassemia patients were scattered in various hospitals and managed differently. There were no written approved guidelines or policies for managing such cases.
In the 1987 with the increase in the number of patients with Thalassemia in the region a specialized Thalassemia clinic and a transfusion short stay room was established in Al WASl hospital . In January 1995, under the kind and generous auspices of His Highness Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum, the new building of the Genetic & Thalassemia Center was inaugurated.
Since March 2006, Thalassemia Center became an independent entity directly reporting to headquarters of the Department of Health and Medical Services in Dubai . In December 2006 the centre was awarded "The Shiekh Hamdan Excellency Award for medical sciences" .In November 2007 ,Thalassemia Centre was the first in the Middle East to get accreditation from the Joint Commission International Accreditation (JCIA).
Thalassemia Centre is an accredited training centre for the students of Dubai Medical College and the Arab board Community Medicine.