ConclusionsThe focus on premarital carrier matching was presented in this study as the result of a community-based and culturesensitive process. Embedding genetic counselling in the Bedouin community was done for the purpose of marriage and family planning, and is expected to lead eventually to a reduction in the prevalence of affected babies. It remains to be seen whether, in the Bedouin setting, an incompatible result derived from premarital carrier matching would indeed be acted upon. Further research is needed to explore the actual uptake of the genetic counselling service and its use in the decision-making process as regards marriage, family planning and reproduction.
AcknowledgementsThe authors wish to thank all the Bedouin respondents and genetic counsellors who participated in this study. They are also indebted to the anonymous journal reviewers for their useful comments. The authors would like to acknowledge the co-operation of two co-investigators who initiated and oversaw the project described here and who were responsible for the tremendous genetic and epidemiological work that preceded this project, namely Profs Ilana Shoham-Vardi and Rivka Carmi.
Statements on funding and competing interestsFunding. This study was funded by grants from the Israel Foundation Trustees (Project PS14/3) and the Israel Science Foundation (Grant 769/00-2). Competing interests. None identified.
References
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