Premarital screening must to avoid genetic, blood disorders

SALALAH, July 29 - Premarital screening is important to check the spread of genetic disorders and help prevent blood disorders in future generations. With a view to spreading awareness among people to go for premarital screening the Ministry of Health has put up a counselling centre in the premises of the Itin Recreation Centre, which is the main venue of the Salalah Tourism Festival. Amira Ramis Bait Zaid, genetic counselling specialist (pictured) and Ibtisam Ramadan were seen interacting with the visitors at the centre telling the importance of premarital screening to avoid any complication in future. “As genetic counselling specialists we receive general patients, record their history, make files and refer them to specialised departments such as heart, kidney, gastro etc, where thorough examination of patients is done on the basis of family history and number of years the disease is travelling from one generation to another,” said Amira. It is important to go for regular counselling to avoid worsening of gene related diseases and get assured that early medical interventions are helpful in managing such diseases. Both the counsellors advised the parents and guardians to be in touch with the genetic counselling specialists, who play a vital link between the lab, hospital and the family in such cases. The genetic counselling experts called for necessary medical examination before marriage to rule out any such possibility. They called for the need to raise awareness about the genetic diseases and educate people to prevent such a situation with the best possible medical options. Amira said Down syndrome, genetic blood diseases like sickle cell anaemia and frequent miscarriages are common genetic disorders as the malfunctioning genes travels from one generation to another. She put stress on moral support to such patients as they are vulnerable to social pressure and prone to making mistakes before and after pregnancy.