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两会热点：婚检--幸福生活的第一道防线 Pre-marital check-ups 'should be encouraged' [ 2007-03-13 15:54 ] When Liu Lu got married last winter, sheand her husband spent 4,000 yuan ($506) on wedding photos alone butdecided to skip pre-marital medicalcheck-ups, which cost about 100 yuan ($12.70). "I was confident we were healthy enough to get married," the29-year-old secretary said. "And the check-ups imply you don't trust your'other half'."Since a State Council regulation came into force on October 1, 2003,mandatory pre-marital physical check-ups which started in 1992 becamevoluntary. And Liu is one of millions who have decided to opt out.Ministry of Health statistics reveal only 2.67 percent of couples wentfor the check-ups in 2004, while it was 68 percent in 2002.But since then, the rate of birth defects has surged in many regions, amatter of great concern for Chi Baorong, professor at Jilin University'smedical college and a veteran CPPCC member.Over the past three years, she has raised proposals to encouragepre-marital medical checks."The health check is the first line of defense for a couple'shappiness," she said.Chen Shouyi, leader of the Zhejiang unit of the China Association forPromoting Democracy, wants to go one step further and reinstate compulsorycheck-ups.He cited Ningbo in East China's Zhejiang Province as an example. Thecity's rate of birth defects was 23.1 per thousand last year, an increaseof nearly 4 per thousand over the previous three years' average.Ren Yuling, a consultant to the State Council, listed measures taken bysome cities to encourage young couples to go for tests before tying theknot; and suggested these practises be promoted widely.Shanghai, for example, provides free check-ups and even unmarriedcouples enjoy free consultation.Zhu Zonghan, former director of the Beijing Public Health Bureau and asenior paediatrician, lauded the measures."Many birth defects actually can be avoided if women use supplements offolic acid during pregnancy," he noted. "If in pre-marital medicals theylearn this, it would be very helpful for them to have a healthy baby."Chi agrees. She thinks it is not important whether the test iscompulsory; instead, awareness about the importance of check-ups is key,she said.双语资讯 | 
