Hopes of over 10,000 persons wanting to tie the knot were dashed as obligatory pre-marital tests conducted by the Ministry of Health found them unfit to marry. A majority of those failing the tests suffer from venereal and hereditary diseases. The results revealed 39 cases of AIDS, 2,075 cases of Hepatitis B and 549 cases of Hepatitis C, Al-Watan said. The report showed that 6,201 people were found suffering from sickle cell anemia besides 1,235 cases of thalassemia (a hereditary disease resulting from defects in the synthesis of the red blood pigment hemoglobin). Dr. Khalid Marghalani, spokesman of the Ministry of Health, said 166,657 people have so far undergone pre-marital tests since the introduction of the obligatory test in 2005. __
