The implementation of compulsory pre-marital medical check-ups after China promulgated a new regulation on marriage registration last October is now in a predicament, which some lawmakers refer to the practice as a loophole for transmission of diseases.

Li Dingguo, a deputy to the National People's Congress (NPC), the top legislature, said Saturday that 262 out of an average of 100,000 residents in Yangpu district of Shanghai metropolis were found to be syphilis patients annually during the past 11 years, many of whom were spotted through pre-marital medical examinations.

Under the New Regulation on Marriage Registration, people registered with the civil affairs departments for marriage can decided themselves to choose whether or not to stand for physical exams before they get married, which used to be a must according to the previous regulation.

This change has been hailed by many as a marked improvement that entitled people to enjoy the true freedom of marriage, while a growing number of citizens are increasingly concerned with a negative impact.

Li, an experienced doctor, is stunned by the "sudden oblivion" of syphilis cases with a drastic drop in the number of people who come for pre-marital medical exam.

According to figures from the Ministry of Civil Affairs, the number of people registered for marriage rose 20 percent on an annual basis since the new regulation became valid. In contrast, doctors say they have had far fewer people for pre-marital medical check-ups.

Ke Li, another NPC deputy and deputy director of the health department of the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region in northwest China, warned that people with pre-cilinical virus could be thought as "healthy" but they would carry the virus to their spouses and, in worst cases, could bring congenital disorders to their babies.

As a government official, Ke also fears the possible social problems will be resultant from a lack of pre-marital medical check, as she has learned of lawsuits triggered by the one side ofthe newly-wed couple hiding his or her family's hereditary mental illness or AIDS virus he or she carries.

Moreover, the new regulation contradicts with some of existing Chinese laws, such as the law concerning maternal and children's health care, the law pertaining to prevention and control of infectious diseases and the marriage law that stipulate people maybe denied marriage registration once a doctor suggests to have the marriage suspended in view of the outcome of their pre-marital health exams, Ke acknowledged.

The compulsory pre-marital medical examination was rescinded after growing public complaints that some medical institutions had overcharged health check-ups, or collected the extra fees and produced a certificate without providing medical service.

A recent survey of 256 newly-weds by the Nanjing City Women and Children Health Care Hospital shows that nearly 80 percent of the respondents deem it unnecessary to have their pre-marital medical examination, whereas 20 percent others fear their marriage could be deprived of once they are found to have infectious diseases.

(China Daily March 14, 2004)