Addressing a Press conference held at the National Health Authority, the head of the Medical Commission, Dr Ahmed Kamal Naji, said that the premarital medical examination, which was slated to come into force from September, has been delayed for a few months “until some missing requirements can be met at the laboratory of Hamad Medical Corporation (HMC)”.
“The delay is merely for technical problems with the HMC lab. The medical check- up is being introduced as a result of a law and nobody can stop it.
Once we are done with the technical preparations and requirements we will go ahead with the premarital medical tests,” Dr Naji, who is also the head of the committee of the premarital medical check-up, told media persons.
“When the premarital test comes into effect, we would initially depend on the HMC lab to conduct the genetic tests for the prospective couples. But so far, the HMC lab is not ready to do all the required genetic tests. It is only a matter of few months and not later than the end of this year. I think that we will be able to give a definite date by the end of Ramadan,” he said.
The official also noted that his committee was still working on the Internet network to link the premarital medical check-up committee to the judiciary.
“We still need few months to complete the network linking us to the courts so that we can report to the marriage registrar. I think that the delay is only to the benefit of all,” he said, while observing that all the other infectious disease tests were ready.
Asked about the reasons behind making the procedure compulsory, Dr Naji, who is also the head of the Premarital Medical Examination, said that the World Health Organisation (WHO) has recommended that Arab countries take such steps in light of the prevalence of genetic diseases and deformities resulting from marriages between close relatives.
“Qatar has welcomed the WHO recommendation and started working on it because it felt there is a need for implementing it,” he said.
Abdul Latif Abdul Al Begaishi, a media consultant at the NHA, said that a large scale awareness campaign was expected to be launched ahead of the application of the law.
