JEDDAH, 26 May — The upcoming summer festival “Jeddah 22” will not only be all shopping and fun. An element of public health education will also be included among its various programs. A public program integrating scientific and Islamic views on health issues related to marriage will be held during the festival, which lasts for six weeks starting from early June.
Taking the initiative is King Faisal Specialist Hospital and Research Center (KFSH&RC) which has planned a comprehensive program on premarital screening under the auspices of Makkah Governor Prince Abdul Majeed. It will be an interactive public program based on telemedicine, simultaneously covering seven cities including Madinah, Riyadh, Dammam and Najran.
There will be a public program highlighting issues and concerns regarding premarital screening which are of public interest. Interactive sessions will be held between the public and a panel of experts, which will focus on Islamic, ethical, psychological, social and medical aspects. Sharing their experiences will be families affected by genetic diseases.
“The event assumes tremendous importance as premarital screening is becoming one of the strategic issues in the Gulf,” Dr. Hassan Al-Zahrani, consultant urologist at KFSH&RC, told Arab News yesterday. “We’re focusing on the entire gamut of the issue through our first national symposium on “Premarital screening in Saudi Arabia: Where do we stand?” for three days from June 20, as part of the Jeddah Summer Festival,” Al-Zahrani, also chairman of the symposium organizing committee, said. According to both Al-Zahrani and Moeen D.A. Al-Sayed, co-chairman and consultant pediatrics, genetic and metabolic diseases, several topics will be covered over the three-day sessions including various diseases affecting the Saudi community that may be transmitted through marriage. Medical, social, psychological and economic aspects of these diseases will be addressed. Other health issues like sexually transmitted diseases, consanguinity, fertility, and ethical, psychological and Islamic perspectives related to premarital screening will be discussed by distinguished overseas and national experts. “International speakers will share their experiences with premarital screening programs already running in their communities,” Al-Zahrani added.
National speakers are from Riyadh and Jeddah. They include Dr. Sayeda Abu-Amero, Dr. Muhammad Al-Bar, physician and scholar in Islamic medicine, Dr. Tariq Al-Habib, Dr. Saad Al-Hassan, consultant reproductive medicine, Dr. Mohsen Al-Hazmi, Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Humaidi, Huda Al-Mansour, Suhad Al-Muaigl, Dr. Moeen Al Sayed, Dr. Hassan El Solh, Dr. Muhammad Iqbal, Dr. Tariq Madani, Dr. Malcolm Paterson and Dr. Zuhair Rahbeeni.
