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Dubai: Recommendations dealing with abortion, pre-marital testing and marriage between relatives, coming out of a conference on genetics in the Arab world, may become a blueprint for Muslim nations, says Dubai's top Islamic official.
Scientists, health officials, academicians and Islamic scholars from the Middle East and elsewhere are meeting during the three-day Second Pan-Arab Human Genetics Conference to discuss the legal and religious aspects of genetic diseases.
Serious issues
Issues discussed include aborting foetuses with debilitating genetic diseases and preventing two people from marrying because they both carry diseased genes.
Dr Hamad Al Shaikh Al Shaibani, director-general of the Islamic Affairs and Charitable Activities Department in Dubai, told Gulf News that advances in genetics have created many religious and legal grey areas in the Muslim world.
"[The declaration] will be directed to all institutions, not just Islam here, but also at the international level because Islam is not restricted to a geographical location," he said.
"These issues have to be addressed so people will know right from wrong, especially pre-marital counselling, playing with genes, test tube babies [and therapeutic abortions]."
He said his department would begin by forwarding the recommendations made at the end of the conference to the Organisation of Islamic Conference [OIC] meeting next year in Sharjah.
He added the department would also take the recommendations as basis for future legislation. "We will work hard to make sure the recommendations will be translated into action, not just remain on paper, and that it becomes applicable as law," he said.
"Islam deals with all aspects of life, and genetics is imposing its effects on life, especially in the Arab world," he stressed.
With about 250 genetic disorders recorded, the UAE has one of the highest rates of disorders in the Arab world, which in turn is the region with the most genetic disorders.
The most common genetic disease in the UAE is thalassaemia, which along with sickle cell anaemia, affects one in 12 Emiratis.
Dr Najeeb Al Khaja, secretary-general of the Shaikh Hamdan Awards for Medical Sciences (SHAMS), told Gulf News roughly 40 per cent of the UAE population carry the gene for thalassaemia, a blood disorder characterised by the breakdown of oxygen-rich red blood cells.
The UAE has passed several laws dealing with genetic diseases, including pre-marital genetic counselling. The Health Ministry is now considering legislation to allow abortion of foetuses carrying debilitating genetic diseases.
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