The Director-General of MOH Hereditary and Chronic Diseases, Dr. Mohammed bin Yahia Saeedi, has commended the Healthy Marriage Program, intended to conduct medical testing on couples to marry to identify whether they suffer from hereditary blood diseases (sickle cell anemia or thalassemia), as well as infectious diseases (hepatitis B, hepatitis C, HIV, AIDS, etc.) The program seeks to provide proper medical advices on the possibility of the transmission of such diseases, either between spouses, or to their offspring. In addition, the program provides a number of options and alternatives to help the couple plan for a healthy family.
“It is a national, societal, preventive awareness program,” Dr. Saeedi said, “and it seeks to reduce the incidence of the diseases targeted by premarital examination. There are essential objectives and crucial reasons for which this program has been launched, which are: limiting the spread of hereditary and infectious blood diseases, reducing the financial burdens of treatment, reducing the pressure on health institutions and blood banks, avoiding the mental and social problems caused by such diseases, encouraging people to have such tests and examinations (especially those unwilling and embarrassed), and raising people's awareness of the comprehensive healthy marriage.
“The program contributed a great deal to bringing about positive results, most notably the decline of incompatible examination certificates, and the increase of those who accepted the medical advice and didn't marry by 60%,” he added.
He went on to say, “There are several examination centers and medical advice clinics: 130 MOH examination centers, and 20 centers of other governmental sectors, in addition to 80 medical clinics.”
Dr. Saeedi made clear that the Healthy Marriage Program doesn't prevent marriage. Rather, it provides guidance and advice for medically incompatible couples, meanwhile letting it entirely up to them whether or not to marry, no matter what the test result is. The average number of people undergoing these tests has mounted to 280.000 persons.
It followed that Dr. Mohammed Saeedi lauded the Saudi people's high level of awareness, which prompts them to participate in reducing the spread of such diseases, by adhering to the results of premarital tests. The number of citizens who refrained from marriage based on the results showing there is a possibility to transmit diseases to the offspring has mounted to about 60%; which paves the way for building a healthy, disease-free Saudi society.