When science and culture bump heads

Genetic disorders afflict Arab world

Below are some excerpts from an article in The National (a UAE newspaper).  It's interesting that they are actually talking openly about this issue.  In countries such as those in the Gulf, it is very difficult for men and women to meet, socialize, fall in love, and marry strangers.  It's forbidden by their religion; there are also cultural prohibitions.  As a result, people marry those that they or their families know - their relatives.  This intermarriage custom is causing problems - problems which will affect the long-term survival of their countries.  They can continue to live as they have, but it is going to increase the scope of the problem.  The scientific evidence seems irrefutable.  It will be interesting to see how they deal with this problem.

The Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS) yesterday said Arab countries were showing greater prevalence of many hereditary disorders caused both by environmental and social dynamics....

Disorders such as Down’s syndrome, sickle cell disease, and thalassaemia are far more common in the region than elsewhere. Many genetic conditions that are considered rare are found more frequently in the region.

According to CAGS, 21.4 babies per 100,000 are born with Down’s in the UAE, about double the average global rate.

About one in 10 people in the UAE is a carrier [of thalassaemia], CAGS said. 

Saudi Arabia has the highest rate of birth defects in the Gulf, with around 80 babies out of every 1,000 born with a disorder.

In the UAE, Kuwait and Oman, 70 to 79 children in every 1,000 are born with a birth defect.

Birth defects have been closely linked to marriages between cousins and relatives, a common practice throughout the region and estimated to account for 35 to 50 per cent of all weddings. 

Up to half of all Emirati marriages are between relatives, with 54 per cent of married couples in Al Ain being relatives, compared to 32 per cent in Abu Dhabi and 40 per cent in Dubai.

Saudi Arabia, has perhaps the highest rate of intermarriage, with up to two thirds of all marriages occurring between relatives.