China is going to tackle the falling percentage of couples getting premarital medical check-ups and rising number of hereditary and infectious diseases among infants.

The State Council will issue a document focusing on how to raise public awareness and to make the checkups more convenient, Wang Bin, director of the Division of Women's Health with the Ministry of Health on Friday.

Social workers will be available at every registration station to inform couples of the advisability of getting the check-up, Wang was quoted by China Daily as saying.

Before the law in China was changed in October 2003, all couples had to show the result of the check-ups to get a certificate. However, the rate dropped significantly in many places to 1 per cent or lower after the law was revised.

Of all reported HIV/AIDS cases last year, mother-baby infections account for 1 per cent, said Wu Zunyou of the Chinese Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, noting that absence of the premarital tests removes the last line of defence against those infections.

Wang said it is not only a question of money but of public awareness. The cost of such a check-up is about 100 yuan (12 U.S.dollars), not a burden for most couples. In rural areas, a family usually spends at least 10,000 yuan (1,200 U.S. dollars) on a wedding.

The document will caution against such diseases as hepatitis, syphilis, and tuberculosis, and will suggest that patients delay their marriage if treatment for at least one of those diseases is necessary.

Source: Xinhua