Reducing the Risk of Hereditary Disease in Saudi Arabia

Premarital Examination in Kingdom of Saudi Arabia
The premarital examination in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has been in effect since the Saudi Royal Cabinet issued the Saudi Royal Decree No. 3 dated 11-7-1424 (El-Hazmi, 2006). However, while participants in the program have shown awareness of the need for the program, the fact that the participants are not bound by the results but may go ahead with the marriage in spite of the risk of passing on hereditary diseases associated with endogamous marriage limits the effectiveness of the program. Al Sulaiman, Suliman, Al Mishari, Al Sawadi & Owaidah (2008) have shown that “genetic screening is an important tool to control, minimize, and prevent genetic disorders” (p. 531) and for that reason a better understanding of how to effectively implement this program in order to reduce the number of hereditary diseases that are passed on is important. While approximately 60% of participants in the premarital examination program are in favor of preventing at-risk marriages (Al Sulaiman et al., 2008), the remaining 40% must be convinced in order to better address this situation, as the intention of this program is to raise awareness of risk factors (El-Hazmi, 2004).
There is also a need to continue to raise awareness of this program’s benefits among the younger generation (Al-Aama, JAl-Nabulsi, Alyousef, Asiri & Al-Blewi, 2008; Al-Shahrani, 2009). For that reason, a qualitative analysis of community impressions of the program would be conducted in order to identify themes that emerge from interviews within a broad sample of individuals who hail from endogamy-centric regions of the KSA. The results of this study would be helpful in providing an educative approach to these communities so as to more effectively raise awareness of the benefits of the program among the 40% of participants who do not view it as important.
References
Al-Aama, J. Y., Al-Nabulsi, B. K., Alyousef, M. A., Asiri, N. A., & Al-Blewi, S. M.
(2008). Knowledge regarding the national premarital screening program among university students in western Saudi Arabia. Saudi Medical Journal, 29(11), 1649-1653.
AL-Shahrani, M. (2009). Steps toward the prevention of hemoglobinopathies in the
kingdom of Saudi Arabia. Hemoglobin, 33(sup1), S21-S24.
Al Sulaiman, A., Suliman, A., Al Mishari, M., Al Sawadi, A., & Owaidah, T. M. (2008).
Knowledge and attitude toward the hemoglobinopathies premarital screening program in Saudi Arabia: population-based survey. Hemoglobin, 32(6), 531-538.
El-Hazmi, M. A. (2004). The natural history and the national pre-marital screening
program in Saudi Arabia. Saudi Medical Journal, 25(11), 1549-1554.
El-Hazmi, M. A. (2006). Pre-marital examination as a method of prevention from blood
genetic disorders. Community views. Saudi Medical Journal, 27(9), 1291-1295.