JEDDAH — The head of Saudi Society for Medical Genetics, Zuhair Rahbini, called on the Ministry of Health to add more diseases to the list of premarital and neonatal screening tests. He said there are 600 inherited and dietetic diseases that they want to be on the list. "Currently only two inherited diseases are included in the premarital tests and 17 for newborns. Why should we do these tests alone when we know that there are so many others that have potential risks?" said Rahbini. Speaking to Saudi Gazette, Rahbini said one major challenge is that there is no authority in the Kingdom that can stop a marriage even if the couple has a high risk rate. "The couple should be briefed about the illnesses and their risks as well as the fact that they could end up paying huge amounts for the treatment of these potential diseases," Rahbini said. He also suggested carrying out a Shariah study to look into the possibility of preventing high-risk marriages. "If we look at Cyprus, we will find that it used to have a very high rate of inherited diseases but after it prevented marriage between couples who show positive blood results the percentage got reduced to almost zero," Rahbini said. He said students in high school should be introduced to all possible risks inherited diseases could pose. Rahbini said there must be a comprehensive program where government bodies should collaborate to make all possible efforts to make the use of the blood tests in reducing the number of illnesses. "We have an average of 500,000 newborns every year and at least 500 are born with one of the inherited diseases," he said. "Each of these patients costs at least one million riyal. Among the main regions where such diseases are widespread include Al-Ahsa, Jazan and Madinah.
