Saudi Arabia implements health-based marriage regulations to combat genetic diseases

Saudi Gazette report

RIYADH — In a move to ensure the well-being of future generations, the Saudi Cabinet has introduced significant amendments to Resolution 156, governing marriages between Saudi and non-Saudi nationals. These changes include a provision that bans such marriages based on “medical incompatibility”, in line with the regulations outlined in the “Healthy Marriage Program.”

The amendments stipulate that the ban will not apply if it is medically proven, according to the procedures approved by the Ministry of Health, that one of the parties is incapable of reproduction. Additionally, the Ministry of Health is tasked, as per the Cabinet decision No. 110, with identifying the list of diseases to be screened under the Healthy Marriage Program as deemed necessary in public interest.

These amendments represent a crucial step toward enhancing the prevention of genetic diseases, enabling treatment for those affected, and addressing related health issues. This initiative plays a vital role in forming families free from the most common hereditary blood disorders and serious infectious diseases in the Kingdom, along with raising health awareness among those planning to marry.

“Medical incompatibility” in the context of the Healthy Marriage Program, as defined by the Ministry of Health, occurs when both parties are either affected by or carriers of any of the genetic diseases listed for screening, or one party is affected and the other is a suspected carrier of the genetic disease.