Theatre at the service of hemophilia

On the occasion of World Hemophilia Day, celebrated on April 17, the Fassi public will be able to discover the theatrical play "Heritage of Blood". Initiated by the Fez regional committee of the Moroccan Hemophilia Association in collaboration with the Nadi Al Miraat (Mirror Club) association for theatre, and the support of the Novo Nordisk Haemophilia Foundation, this play presents the particularity of being staged and performed by hemophiliacs. Indeed, it constitutes the fruit of several months of theatre workshops organised for people with hemophilia who will hold the main roles in this play.



Furthermore, the importance of this initiative lies in the fact that it is based on the principle of theatre therapy, which has as its main objective to help people with hemophilia, this serious and chronic disease that considerably affects the professional and social life of the patient, to regain self-confidence and overcome all physiological and psychological difficulties, instead of sinking into depression and melancholy. "It is indeed a matter of immersing them in an atmosphere of joy and gaiety by allowing them to explore their artistic faculties and by distancing them through theatre, a field of play and transcendence par excellence, from their bodily inability", specifies Aziz El Hakem, member of the Nadi Al Miraat association for theatre. The director of this play, Hassan Mrani Alaoui, himself draws inspiration in this theatrical approach from his personal experience as a hemophiliac.

Starting his theatrical career in the seventies, he knew how to defy the disease with courage and integrate into the artistic and social environment, without any inferiority complex, and become one of the directors of the place, which pushed him to embark on this theatrical experience that mixes art with social action, in order to sensitise society to the need to take an interest in all its members without any discrimination. Moreover, he sought, in a professional way, to integrate these neglected members of society and to make them feel that art is not a simple free game and that the sick, too, have the right to be gifted, the proof being this tangible improvement that these hemophiliacs have felt since the beginning of the workshops, in their relationship with their bodies, but also with their families and their loved ones.

Note that the Moroccan Hemophilia Association, created in 1990, brings together, in addition to the medical profession, hemophiliacs and their parents. Recognised as being of public utility, this non-profit association has set itself the objective of helping all hemophiliacs in Morocco. It carries out its activities through two reference centres. Information and awareness remain its main fields of action. Within the framework of its collaboration with numerous national and international organisations, it works for the training of medical and paramedical resources and the creation of adequate health infrastructure to guarantee patients better care.

Hemophilia is a hereditary disease linked to the X chromosome. It is characterised by a blood clotting disorder leading to the appearance of bleeding, most often in a prolonged manner. It is due to the decrease or absence in the blood of a clotting factor (factor VIII for hemophilia A, factor IX for hemophilia B), which causes frequent hemorrhages. This disease is only transmitted by mothers to boys, who develop hemophilia. Girls, for their part, do not present hemophilia, except in a few cases where the disease is not serious. Affecting more than 3,000 people in Morocco, according to estimates by the World Health Organization, hemophilia is also a condition that considerably alters the quality of life of patients, preventing them, especially when they are young, from continuing their schooling and having a normal socio-professional life once they become adults.

-* The Moroccan Hemophilia Association, created in 1990, brings together, in addition to the medical profession, hemophiliacs and their parents.

-* Hemophilia affects more than 3,000 people in Morocco, according to estimates by the World Health Organization.

-* The play is initiated by the Moroccan Hemophilia Association in collaboration with the Nadi Al Miraat association for Theatre and the Novo Nordisk Haemophilia Foundation.

Provider / Source : Afaf Razouki, Le Matin