SUKKUR: Speakers at a seminar at Shah Abdul Latif University, Khairpur, on Thursday warned against irreparable harms of cousin marriage and said it could lead to genetic disorders, including thalassemia, cystic fibrosis, Down syndrome and visual and hearing impairment.

A statement issued by the university said that SALU’s Department of Zoology organised the seminar in collaboration with Sukkur Blood and Drug Donating Society on “Impact of consanguinity (cousin marriage) on our society” which was aimed at raising awareness about the critical issue of genetic disorders associated with cousin marriages.

Dr Javed Ahmed Ujjan, chairman of the Department of Zoology, highlighted significant impact of consanguineous marriages on genetic disorders.

He said that 71 per cent of consanguineous marriages (66pc of Pakistan’s sample) took place in Sindh, followed by Balochistan (70pc), Punjab (65pc) and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (58pc). The percentage varied between 72pc and 78pc among socioeconomically disadvantaged groups and in rural areas (71pc), he said.

Most of the population belonged to lower socioeconomic strata in which family units were large and therefore could not afford to pay for the treatment of their thalassemic child, he said.

He lamented that there were no established management practices and there was not a single federal program to combat thalassemia. However, some initiatives had been taken at provincial level, with legislation authorising premarital screening in Sindh, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan, he said, adding although implementation of the initiative was still a problem.

Dr Majeeda Ruk, focal person of the seminar, underlined that the practice of cousin marriage was deeply rooted in certain cultures and lingered on due to economic, psychological and traditional factors.

She emphasised that consanguinity increased the likelihood of hundreds of genetic diseases that burdened society genetically, socially and economically.

Dr Afroz Shaikh and Rashid Ali made insightful remarks on the negative effects of consanguinity and pointed out that out of 240 million of Pakistan’s population, about 10 million were carriers of the gene responsible for thalassemia, indicating that one in 20 people in the country carried the gene for beta-thalassemia, who were prone to become the patients of thalassemia in near future.

They went on to say that thalassemia was significantly higher (76.7pc) in first cousin marriage as compared to the second cousin marriage (23.3pc). The trend of thalassemia major among male patients was higher (76.31pc) in first cousin marriage as compared to second cousin marriage (23.69pc), which meant that if two carriers married each other, then they had a 25pc chance of having a child with thalassemia major, 25pc chance of having a normal child and 50pc chance of having a carrier child in each pregnancy, they said.

They said that a person who was screened for thalassemia and was found to be a carrier or was said to have the thalassemia trait should choose to marry a non-carrier person, then this couple would have a 50pc chance of having a normal child, 50pc chance of having a carrier child, and zero chance of having a thalassemia major child during each pregnancy, they said.

The seminar was attended by doctors, professors and a large number of students.

Published in Dawn, November 22th, 2024