KARACHI: Experts have raised concerns over the growing prevalence of genetic disorders in Pakistan, attributing the rise to the high rate of cousin marriages in the country.
At a recent workshop titled “Genomic Disorders and Recessive Disorders” organized by Dow University of Health Sciences and the Swiss Pakistan Workshop, specialists highlighted the alarming trend. According to their findings, cousin marriages now account for over 65% of all marriages in Pakistan, with certain communities seeing this number rise to as high as 85%.
Professor Saeed Qureshi, Vice Chancellor of Dow University of Health Sciences, explained that cultural, social, and economic factors play a significant role in promoting this practice, which in turn increases the risk of genetic diseases in offspring.
The experts pointed out that inherited conditions such as thalassemia, microcephaly, and other genetic disorders are more common in families where cousin marriages are frequent. The increasing rate of such unions is significantly raising the prevalence of these disorders in Pakistan.
