Friday May 8th marks the International Thalassemia Day, a serious genetic diseases that is common in the UAE
In UAE Genetic Disease Association’s (UAE GDA) drive to create awareness about the medical and social impacts of common inherited blood disorders prevalent in our community, such as Thalassemia, Sickle-cell Anaemia and G6PD, GDA has organized awareness campaigns and blood testing campaigns at various locations in the country.

These campaigns fall under the umbrella of UAE GDA’s ongoing project “Emirates free from new births of children with Thalassemia disease by the year 2012”; through this project UAE GDA aims to identify carriers of the most prevalent genetic disorders in the country and limit the number of newborns with this disorder.

To mark the world Thalassemia day, H. E Dr. Mariam Matar, Founder and Executive Director of UAE GDA, said:
“Since the launch of campaign in 2004, we were able to raise the public’s awareness about this disease, and establish the first UAE GDA genetic diseases lab in 2007 with the help of the Ministry of Health, and concerned federal authorities and entities in both public and private sector. Another major accomplishment for the UAE GDA included enforcing the mandatory premarital genetic disease screening”.

While premarital genetic disease screening is compulsory in the UAE, the cost of these tests may vary from hospital to another but are all in the range of 700 AED, UAE GDA’s screenings are conducted for free for all UAE nationals, and for only 50 AED for all UAE residents.

The screening takes approximately 5 minutes and is relatively painless. UAE GDA patients are granted anonymity, and receive their test results on their personal email within 10 days. Depending on the diagnosis, GDA provides the needed medical help.

Since the launch of the screening campaigns, UAE GDA has successfully screened 7000 individuals and hopes to screen an additional 4000 individuals by the end of the 2009, As part of its strategy, UAE GDA hopes to conduct 30000 screenings by the year 2012.

UAE GDA is organizing round the clock awareness campaigns this year to reduce the impact of the most common inherited genetic blood disorders in the community. The association has already conducted screening in 15 of the UAE’s universities and colleges. GDA has also conducted screening in 16 public and private organizations and bodies, such as exhibitions and organizations such as National Bank of Abu Dhabi Bank, Emirates NDB , Du Telecom, Aswaaq Centre in Nadd el Hammar, and Emirates Post.

“Our activities include promoting health education, screening for genetic disorders, pre-marital screening and genetic counseling. The UAEGDA also facilitates communication and publication of scientific knowledge, to promote education and research in genetics, and encourages interaction between workers in genetics and those in related sciences” said Dr. Matar.

With better knowledge of the genetics of various diseases, testing for the underlying defects with the use of biochemical and molecular techniques is increasingly possible. UAE GDA is fully-equipped with state-of-the-art technologies, mobile units and specialists.

It is worth mentioning that Thalassemia is the result of a genetic defect leading to severe shortages in the production of particular proteins in the blood “globins’”, which is the main component of the haemoglobin found in red blood cell. According to the last study conducted, 1 in 12 people in the UAE carrys a genetic disease gene, we are facing a high risk of developing specific genetic disorders, if both parents are found to be carriers, the risk of passing on the genetic disease increases with each pregnancy. This is UAE GDA’s awareness is concentrating on individuals in premarital stages.”

The practical aim of these screening tests is the prevention and treatment of genetic diseases and blood disorders, they can save lives and reduce pain and suffering. ” added Dr. Matar. Dr. Matar
called upon those interested in screening themselves to register at the UAE GDA website: http://www.uaegda.ae/newclient.html