Bahrain begins child screening programme:
This article was originally published in Clinica
Executive Summary
Bahrain is to begin screening 6,000 children for diseases, including sickle cell anaemia, beta thalassaemia and glucose-6 phosphate dehydrogenase (G6PD) deficiency in March 2003. The project is funded by the Bahrain society for hereditary diseases (BSHD) to the tune of BD20,000 ($53,200) and has the backing of the ministries of health and education. BSHD has already begun purchasing the equipment required for the screening programme. It will take the total number of children screened in Bahrain over the past five years to 30,000. Bahrain's current infant screening programme has helped lower the number of children born with hereditary diseases from 2.1% in 1986 to 0.9% today, said Dr Al Arrayed of the Salmaniya Medical Complex genetics department, in Manama.