Dr. Samya Bahram, MD

Dr. Samya Bahram obtained her M.D in Medicine and General Surgery from the Arabian Gulf University, College of Medicine and Medical Sciences in Bahrain. She obtained her Arab Board in Family and Community Medicine from the Bahrain Family Practice Residency Program, in collaboration with Irish College of General Practitioners and Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. She also holds a UK Aviation Medicine Certificate from Kings College in London, and recently obtained a Diploma in Obstetrics & Gynecology Ultrasonography from Prince Sultan Military Medical City, Riyadh, Saudi Arabia.

Dr. Bahram’s key responsibilities as a family physician include primary care treatment, establishing and providing patient education, screening and counseling services, and obstetric ultrasound for women attending antenatal clinics. Dr. Samya also has a keen interest in premarital counseling. Her passion for teaching and education led her to become a Medical Tutor at the Family Practice Residency Program with specific interests in delivering courses on communication & counseling skills, and training postgraduate residents on professional conduct and ethics.

Since joining the Premarital Counseling Committee in 2008, Dr. Samya and her committee colleagues have established premarital counseling service guidelines for primary care and the private sector in Bahrain. She is currently a Consultant Medical Tutor at the Family Practice Residency Program, Ministry of Health, and a Lecturer at the College of Medicine & Medical Sciences (CMMS), Arabian Gulf University (AGU) Bahrain.

Dr. Samya serves as Deputy Head of the Premarital Counseling Committee, where she conducts several workshops throughout the year for both Governmental and private sector physicians in Bahrain. She is also a Deputy Head of Bahrain Medical License Examination (BMLE), contributing and preparing BMLE examinations within the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Title of Presentation

Premarital counseling services at primary care in Bahrain

Genetic blood diseases are common in Bahrain. Sickle cell disease is considered the most common single gene disorder worldwide. Currently, there is no definitive cure for these diseases, which consequently has a negative impact on the life style of the individual, family and the community, leading to remarkable economical and psychosocial burdens.

World Health Organization (WHO) has recommended several measures for the prevention of genetic diseases, one of which is premarital counseling. This service is compulsory in many countries such as China, Iran, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, Kuwait, Cyprus, Gaza strip-Palestine, Jordan, Egypt and Bahrain where the law was issued in 2004 to regulate the process of premarital counseling, while other countries such as Italy, United Kingdom, United States, Lebanon and Oman, the service is still optional.

In Bahrain the burden of genetic blood disorders including sickle-cell disease, thalassemia and glucose-6-phosphate dehydrogenase deficiency (G6PD) has long been recognized as a major public health problem. Hence there Screening for hemoglobinopathies is done on three levels (Neonatal screening, Screening Secondary school students and Premarital screening).

The main aim of premarital counseling in Bahrain is to provide couples at risk with information that help them take the right decision for their future offspring, it helps prevent diseases, mainly Sickle cell disease, Thalassemia and some sexually transmitted diseases that protect Bahrain’s future generation from the debilitating effects of such ailments.

The Kingdom of Bahrain has enacted a law No. 11 for 2004 on premarital examination for both genders stating that premarital counseling is mandatory for all would-be married couples in order to attain their legal marriage document. The autonomy of the couples is completely respected and marriage certificates were issued irrespective of the results.

After 10 years of implanting the premarital Law in Bahrain still we can't see the impact of the Law on the prevalence of sickle cell disease, B-thalassemia major and other hemoglobinopathies directly, but we can see the great impact of the Law on the neonatal incidence of SCD and B-thalassemia major which showed a significant decline from (2.1%) and (2%) in 1984-1985 to (0.5%) and (0.02%) in 2014 respectively. This drop in neonatal incidence of SCD and Thalassemia reflects that a good number of couples at risk had voluntary cancellation of marriage proposal.