KUWAIT: A new pre-marriage testing center will be inaugurated today at the Munahi Al-Osaimi Health Center in Khaitan. Director of the Pre-Marriage Testing Department at the Health Ministry, Dr. Yaqoub Al-Kanderi, told KUNA that the new center would help lift some of the load off the main center in Al-Sabah Hospital, thus saving citizen’s time.
He also said that another center would soon be opened in Mubarak Al-Kabeer, that would also cater for those living in Mubarak Al-Kabeer and Ahmadi Governorates. Al-Kanderi said that the Health Ministry’s role was not limited to testing citizens, but also referred them to specialized doctors in case diseases or health problems were discovered.
After the test results come out, it is up to the couple whether or not they wish to proceed with the marriage should any contagious or hereditary diseases or conditions be discovered, he explained.
The test is mandatory for all Kuwaiti couples wanting to get married, and is valid for six months. The test includes hereditary conditions such as sickle-cell anemia and thalassaemia, as well as contagious diseases like herpes, AIDS and Hepatitis B and C.
A total of 15,718 individuals have had the pre-marital medical tests since the tests were introduced last August, according to a senior Ministry of Health (MoH) official, with 97.3 percent of those tested given the all-clear to marry.
Dr. Yacoub Al-Kandari, the head of the health ministry’s social health department, told Al-Qabas that 45 percent of the 315 people who tested positive for possible genetic problems that could be transmitted to any children of the union decided to go ahead with the marriage anyway.