The impact of genetic diseases on Jordanians: strategies towards prevention

Genetic disorders are diseases in which genetic factors play an important role in their etiology. They are classified into chromosomal abnormalities, monogenic and multifactorial disorders. While chromosomal abnormalities and monogenic disorders are purely genetic in nature, multifactorial disorders are produced by the interaction between environmental and genetic factors. Although most genetic diseases are individually rare there are many of them. The vast majority are serious, none is curable and relatively few are amenable to satisfactory treatment.A number of surveys have indicated that at least one in every fifty newborns has a major congenital anomaly, one in hundred has a monogenic disorder and one in two hundred has a chromosomal abnormality. However, the prevalence of genetic disorders is quite variable among different ethnic groups and across different age groups. The control and decline of environmental causes of childhood mortality in western countries threw the genetic causes into greater prominence. Although the picture may be different in third world countries, improvement in living conditions is causing a similar shift. The magnitude of the impact of genetic disorders on all societies is quite significant necessitating their control which can be principally achieved by prevention.