Abstract
The Sultanate of Oman is a rapidly developing Muslim country with well-organised government-funded health care services, including primary, secondary and tertiary, and rapidly expanding medical genetic facilities. At the present time, the Omani population is characterised by a rapid rate of growth, large family size, consanguineous marriages, and the presence of genetic isolates. The preservation of a tribal structure in the community coupled with traditional isolation has produced unique and favourable circumstances for building genealogical records and the study of genetic disease. Genetic services developed in the Sultanate of Oman in the past decade have become an important component of health care. The recently constructed Genetic Centre in Muscat expects to meet the needs of the Omani population in provision of genetic services and research, in a manner deferential to the cultural and religious traditions of the country.
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Acknowledgments
The survey was supported by (1) the “Institute for Health and Consumer Protection” (Italy), one of the seven scientific institutes of the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission; (2) the Department of Human Genetics, Hannover Medical School, Hannover, Germany; and (3) the Unit of Women’s Health Research, Medical School, Westfaelische Wilhelms-Universitaet Muenster, Muenster, Germany.
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This is the declaration that the experiments described in current paper comply with the current laws of the Sultanate of Oman in which they were performed.
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This article is part of the special issue “Special GenTEE”.
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Rajab, A., Al Rashdi, I. & Al Salmi, Q. Genetic services and testing in the Sultanate of Oman. Sultanate of Oman steps into modern genetics. J Community Genet 4, 391–397 (2013). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-013-0153-1
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12687-013-0153-1