Premarital checks ensure healthy babies
By He Na and Li Fangchao (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-07-22 05:35

"Some infectious diseases have been spreading in recent years, such as hepatitis B and syphilis, which severely affect the health of mother and baby," said Jin Lianhong, director of the Heilongjiang Provincial Health Care Department.

"Premarital checks are an important method for curbing the number of birth defects, and it is a good thing to reinforce it by making it compulsory," he said.

Lu Bozhi, director of the Harbin Maternity and Child Care Hospital, who is in charge of premarital check-ups, welcomed the new regulation.

"We used to find many couples with some hereditary and infectious diseases as well as venereal diseases," he said.

Medical check-ups prior to marriage had been compulsory for almost 20 years in China, and many serious hereditary diseases and infectious diseases have been discovered at this stage, Guan Yuwei, the centre's vice-president, told China Daily recently.

But on October 1, 2003, the new Marriage Law came into effect, making check-ups optional for those who wish to tie the knot. The number of couples undergoing the physical examination has plummeted nationwide.

In Changchun more than 93 per cent of couples in urban areas had medical check-ups before marriage registration between January and September 2003. But in the following year the rate dropped to just 2 per cent.

In 2002, 9 per cent of those examined were found to have sexually transmitted or other contagious diseases.

These people were advised to put off marriage plans until they were cured - or were even told not to get married at all, Guan said.

Page:

1

2

3

4

Close

Typhoon Haitang floods coastal areas Wholesalers at vegetable market in Nanjing Typhoon Haitang causes huge losses to Wenzhou

Today's Top News     Top China News
China abolishes yuan-dollar peg, adopts floating rate         London hit again by terror blasts         China affirms 'no first use' nuke policy         Power plants pushed to boiling point         US$3.1b deals inked to buy 20 Airbus A330s         China's Internet users reach 103 million	Premarital checks ensure healthy babies       China abolishes yuan-dollar peg, adopts floating rate       China affirms 'no first use' nuke policy       Power plants pushed to boiling point       Joint US-China mission tackles illicit driftnet fishing       Beijingers get a say in next 5-year plan