Old habits die hard — at least according to the UK's National Health Service (NHS), which said there are benefits to first cousin marriages.Reported by the Telegraph, this is despite the increased risk of birth defects from the marriages.The NHS has since redacted its statements ... not fully confident following public backlash. The backlash came from politicians such as Tory MP Richard Holden, who said, “Our NHS should stop taking the knee to damaging and oppressive cultural practices."The NHS's Genomics Education Programme had suggested the benefits of such marriages were “stronger extended family support systems and economic advantages”.It had also stated the genetic risk for first cousin marriages was similar to the risks of alcohol, smoking, and parental age, which they noted, "none of which are banned in the UK”.."But the practice has also been linked to oppression of women and also has a proven increased risk of genetic disease in offspring of first-cousin relationships," reports the Telegraph.According to a report by the BBC, a study looking at 11,300 babies in Bradford, England found cousin marriages accounted for nearly a third of abnormalities. Marrying first cousins in the UK is currently legal, but among the genetic risk factors, there is an increased likelihood of carrying diseases like sickle cell disease and cystic fibrosis. Dr. Patrick Nash, an expert on religious law and director of the Pharos Foundation social science research group in Oxford, commented: “Cousin marriage is incest, plain and simple, and needs to be banned with the utmost urgency — there is no ‘balance’ to be struck between this cultural lifestyle choice and the severe public health implications it incurs.".“The article published on the website of the Genomics Education Programme is a summary of existing scientific research and the public policy debate," an NHS spokesperson told the Telegraph."It is not expressing an NHS view.”
