NHS England's Genomics Education Programme published training guidance on 22 September, which highlighted supposed benefits of first-cousin marriage, including 'stronger extended family support systems and economic advantages', has been withdrawn within days after fierce criticism from politicians and medical experts who questioned why health authorities would promote a practice linked to doubled genetic risks in offspring.
The controversy centres on a troubling question: how did guidance extolling consanguineous marriage benefits ever reach publication when NHS-funded research has long established the elevated health dangers?
