Review of pre-marital screening programme held at symposium

Al Awabi: The Health Committee in the Wilayat of Al Awabi on Tuesday organised an expanded awareness symposium titled “Genetic Blood Disorders and Pre-Marital Screening.”

The event was held under the auspices of Eng. Masoud Said Al Hashmi, Governor of South Al Batinah, with the attendance of several officials in the governorate.

The symposium included three working papers: The first paper addressed genetic diseases. The second paper reviewed the details of the pre-marital screening programme from a health perspective, while the third paper covered the Sharia and jurisprudential aspect of pre-marital screening.

Dr. Jean-Jacob Jabbour, World Health Organization (WHO) Representative in the Sultanate of Oman, highlighted the importance of the symposium in its significant awareness role for preventing a number of genetic and infectious diseases, including blood disorders. He affirmed that the mission of such events is to deliver direct messages to the community to build a healthy society that actively participates in development across all sectors, including health.

The symposium was accompanied by an awareness exhibition and a discussion panel on the health and legal aspects related to the symposium’s topics.