DUBAI, Dec 22 (KUNA) -- Patients with genetic diseases cost the Arab world USD 13 billion annually, a medical expert said on Saturday.
Ghazi Omar Tadhmori, Assistant director of the Centre for Arab Genomic Studies (CAGS), affiliated to the Sheikh Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Award for Medical Sciences, said genetic diseases in the Arab region had increased the burden on the health institutions.
In his lecture on genetic diseases in the Arab countries delivered at the Arab Gulf University, Tadhmori noted that health figures show that such diseases were on the rise in the UAE, Bahrain and Oman.
There are more than 240 genetic diseases in the UAE, 114 in Bahrain and 250 in Oman, a matter that prompts fresh ideas on the genetic variation of that geographically small region. More data will be gathered about the rest of the Arab countries over the coming years.
Interim statistics suggest there are about 850 genetic diseases in the Arab world, that could exceed 1,000 when data collecting is completed, he said.(end) gd.msa KUNA 221750 Dec 07NNNN