Turkey is among the most populous countries of the world, and has a young
population structure. The rate of consanguinity has been approximately 20-25%
for the last 25 years. Various studies have shown that high consanguinity can
be a contributing factor to the high incidence of some rare autosomal recessive
diseases. Hemoglobinopathies are an important health problem, and Turkey
also has one of the highest incidences of phenylketonuria in the world.
Training and education in medical genetics, established as a specialty since
1972, play an important role in the setting of genetic services and meeting
public health problems.
Prenatal and preimplantation diagnosis is available for a variety of fetal
diseases.