Around 30 million people out of Pakistan’s 220 million population suffer from genetic diseases and one of the many reasons for high prevalence of hereditary disorders is consanguinity due to cultural preference of cousin marriages and spouse selection from near or distant blood relatives, health experts have said.
“Consanguinity in Pakistan is perhaps the highest in the world, but the incidence of genetic diseases at birth can be reduced through introduction of premarital genetic testing and it’s counseling as a part of healthcare system in Pakistan,” said Dr Shahzad Ali Khan, a renowned public health expert and vice chancellor of the Health Services Academy (HSA) Islamabad. while talking to The News on Wednesday.
In view of hereditary disease burden in Pakistan, the HAS, in collaboration with an international tech firm, Dynamic Medical Company (DMC), and the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination and in partnership with China’s leading medical equipment manufacturers, had planned to set up a Genetic Reference Laboratory and Research Centre for Genetic Disorders here in Islamabad at our premises, he said.
The HSA recently held a medical conference and exhibition on “Next-generation Healthcare” where medical technology experts and firms from Singapore, Germany, South Korea, Norway, Turkey, Finland and China as well as from Pakistan presented their papers while diagnostic equipment using Artificial Intelligence was also put on display, which can...
Read Full Story: https://www.thenews.com.pk/print/972002-genetic-reference-lab-and-research-centre-planned-at-health-services-academy
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