JEDDAH, 23 August 2007 — Saudi consultant Dr. Khaled Al-Qahtani, head of the liver unit at King Faisal Specialist Hospital in Riyadh, is calling for a hepatitis test to be added to the premarital medical tests, which include tests for genetic compatibility due to the propensity for consanguineous marriages in Saudi society.
Al-Qahtani’s call comes after his participation at the 38th Annual Medical Conference for Abdominal System Diseases in Washington this week. He said that premarital medical tests should also include diseases such as hepatitis and AIDS.
The conference that had Saudi physicians participating discussed benefits of early diagnosis of the disease that the participants claimed would save more than $5,000 spent on every patient.
The conference also concentrated on the effectiveness of Pegasus treatment for chronic hepatitis cases since it reinforces the immunity system against the virus.
Al-Qahtani warned against the fear of early diagnosis because there is a common belief that the disease is usually sexually transmitted which in fact is not the only factor.
“Some patients think that diagnosing the disease will prevent them from marriage,” said Dr. Al-Qahtani.
“This is unethical as evading tests might result in the patient’s partner, and eventually their children, catching the disease,” he added.
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 80 percent of hepatitis patients allow their disease to become a chronic and 20 percent develop cirrhosis; five percent of the 20 percent would have liver cancer in the following 10 years of their lives.
Hepatitis is a highly infectious disease that is easier to contract than AIDS. It is transmitted by blood and other body fluids.
There are vaccinations for Hepatitis, but they involve a series of three shots over a six-month period and many people are not vaccinated against the infection.
