Guangdong was mulling free premarital medical check to cut down on the number of birth defects which had increased in the past two years, the Yangcheng Evening News reported Monday.

About 9 million people in Guangdong had Mediterranean anemia genes, making Mediterranean anemia, a condition which limits the amount of oxygen making sufferers lethargic, the No. 1 genetic disease in the province, the report said.

If two Mediterranean anemia gene carriers married, their children had a 50 percent chance of being a Mediterranean anemia gene carrier or one-fourth chance of suffering from serious Mediterranean anemia, which meant they could live their entire lives relying on blood transfusions at about 30,000 yuan (US$3,700) a year, the report said.

Bone marrow transplant was the only way to cure the disease but the medical cost would be more than 200,000 yuan and it was hard to find matching marrow for patients.

However, the ratio for newlyweds to have prenuptial medical checks decreased by 95 percent in the past two years after the nation loosened its control on premarital medical check. Previously, the check was obligatory for all newlyweds. Many newlyweds did not like to spend their own money on the medical check after it became optional two years ago.

Guangdong had more than 4,000 new infants suffering from serious Mediterranean anemia each year in the past years, the report said. They mainly came from Meizhou, Zhaoqing, Yunfu and Shaoguan where there were 79,000 newlyweds a year. The government could invest 1.08 million yuan to cover the cost of prenuptial medical checks for the newlyweds each year in the affected places, the report said.

Some Guangdong CPPCC members suggested at a meeting Sunday that the government should establish government-funded institutions to take charge of premarital medical checks.

(Shenzhen Daily August 2, 2005)