Newlyweds shun city's free health checks

Only seven percent of soon-to-be married couples in the capital opted to undergo a premarital health check last year, the lowest rate in the country, Beijing health bureau announced Monday.

Health authorities believe it is vital to encourage the checkups, as the falling rate has led to an increase in the number of babies born with congenital physical defects.

"We can't say the falling rate is the only factor responsible for rising congenital disease, but premarital medical checks should definitely be encouraged to avoid birth defects," said Ma Yanming, media officer of the Beijing Municipal Health Bureau (BMHB).

"From March 2012, maternity and child care centers in all 16 districts and counties [in Beijing] started providing free premarital checkups," said Ma.　

According to the announcement from BMHB Monday, the percentage of couples taking the checkups decreased from almost 100 percent 10 years ago to 7 percent in 2011, while the rate of newborn babies with congenital defects doubled during the last 12 years.

The problems seen in newborn babies include excessive numbers of fingers or toes, or congenital heart disease, the announcement said.

In 1997, the rate of congenital physical defect was 97 per 10,000 births in Beijing, but by 2008 this rate had risen to 171 per 10,000 births, reported the Legal Mirror in November, 2011.

The health checks were made mandatory for couples applying for a marriage certificate in China in 1992. But when the new regulations on marriage registration were issued in October 2003, the test became voluntary.

Nationwide, 97 percent of couples chose to forego the check after learning of the new policy, reported the Xinhua News Agency in May 2004.

A doctor surnamed Liu, who supervises premarital checkups in the maternity and child care hospital in Dongcheng district, said that only a few couples come for the check, around 300 so far this year.　

However, in Beijing, every day there are on average 455 couples registering for marriage, according to a Beijing Morning Post report on August 24.

In Shanghai, 38 percent of couples take advantage of the checkup, which became free in 2005; prior to this, take-up was below four percent, the People's Daily reported on February 24.

According to Liu, couples are asked about their family disease history, and have a general physical and an examination for sexually transmitted disease.　

"The examination is not the same as an annual workplace checkup, it's more detailed and helpful for the couple to have a healthy baby," said Liu.

Some local residents have said they may not have a checkup, either because the results would not affect their decision to wed, or because they think their partner might be offended.

"It wouldn't affect our decision to marry, and we could wait until we are ready to have a baby to have a detailed pre-pregnancy check," said a resident of Shijingshan district, surnamed Li, who got married several months ago.

Lin Ting, a 29-year-old married woman, said she had thought of undergoing the tests, but in the end decided against asking her then-fiancée.

"If I brought it up, it would sound like I'm suspicious of him having caught some kind of disease, so I decided to forget about it," said Lin.

There are multiple reasons why couples do not go for the health checks, said Ma.

"Some couples don't know the checkup is free, and some are unaware of the importance of doing it," he said.

But of the seven people the Global Times telephoned Monday, only two did not know the checkup was free.

Ma added the city would not reverse the policy to make the checkups mandatory once again.

"But we are planning measures to encourage more couples to have one," he noted.

Jiang Jie contributed to the story.