The Diwaniyah radio show (Marina FM) this afternoon hosted Dr. Reem Al-Radwan who was talking about the necessity of premarital screening for genetic and infectious diseases.

According to Dr. Reem, the Ministry of Health represented by a group of researchers is pushing for the formulation of a law that requires couples intending on getting married to get screened before they tie the knot.

The mind boggling element of this is that this proposed law is not even on the agenda of any of the committees in parliament. Since it was formulated by the research group, the MP’s have not pushed for this proposal to have any priority in past parliamentary sessions. There is hope that in the new session of Parliament   that this crucial proposal will be shaped into law.

Why should couples wanting to get married be screened?

There are two types of things a person will be screened for:

1)  Genetic diseases such as Thalassemia, an inherited blood disorder that affects many people especially in our part of the world. Even if you or your partner don’t have the disease, you may be a carrier and that is the problem.

2) Infectious diseases like : Hepatitis (hcv, hbv); AIDS; syphilis.

These kinds of diseases are contagious and can affect your spouse and your children.

What does this proposal entail?

Those intending to get married must bring a certified copy of their tests results to be shown to the Mulla carrying out the marriage contract.

If there are any complications, then the hospital notifies the concerned person and there are two types of counseling sessions provided.

The first counseling session will be after notification of the individual  by the hospital. The person will be informed of the ramifications of the test result.

The second counseling session will include the person and their intended partner. This is to explain what may happen should they get married.

So in effect, there will be no law saying they cannot get married. However, people must be aware of the possible consequences of their union when they are carriers of genetic diseases and when they have contagious infections.

Dr. Reem said that many people were afraid it was an invasion of their privacy. But the benefits of screening far out weigh any possible negative effects.

For example, one of the radio hosts stated that once a woman called up to consult the lawyer on air whether she had the right to sue her husband whom she says transmitted the HIV virus to her.

Furthermore, Dr. Reem discussed the cost of treating thalassemia patients.

Can you believe that each thalassemia patient costs the Kuwaiti government 2 million KD per year? And that each bag of blood for transfusions costs 120 KD?

She cited the example of Cyprus where mandatory screening was enforced and now there are practically no new Thalassemia cases for the past five years.