Jewish Genetic Diseases Awareness

What’s in Your Genes?

NCJWC HAS BEEN A LEADER IN CREATING AWARENESS OF JEWISH GENETIC DISEASES. THE MANDATE IS TO EDUCATE PEOPLE WITHIN THE JEWISH COMMUNITY.

Some inherited diseases result when both parents silently carry the same recessive genetic trait. All couples with ANY Jewish ancestry, including interfaith couples, should have pre-conception carrier screening for all Jewish genetic diseases.

Approximately one in four people in the Ashkenazi Jewish population is a carrier of a Jewish genetic disease. A blood test can determine your carrier status.

Doctors and rabbis distribute brochures to assist in educating their patients and congregants about the importance of screening.

Jewish Genetic Diseases Awareness Week was officially launched in 2012. This was a joint project of NCJWC-Toronto Section, the Department of Prenatal Diagnosis and Medical Genetics at Mount Sinai Hospital and Jacob’s Ladder.

Genetic Screening Tests are done for:

  • Tay Sachs Disease
  • Canavan Disease
  • Familial Disautonomia
  • Niemann-Pick Disease Type A
  • Bloom’s Syndrome
  • Franconi Anemia Type C
  • Mucolopidosis Type 4

MORE INFO

For information in your province, please contact National Council of Jewish Women of Canada info@ncjwc.org

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