Hanoi (VNS/VNA) - Vietnam needs to develop apolicy to encourage husbands and wives-to-be to register for pre-marital healthtests, so that they will be more prepared both psychologically and physicallyfor their married life without causing burdens on themselves and society.

Do Thi Quynh Huong, Deputy Director of the General Department ofPopulation and Family Planning’s Population Structure and Quality Office, saidpre-marital health tests are the first forms of screening, which help create asustainable and happy married life and contribute to improving the quality ofthe population.

Huong said many couples only focus on preparing financially fortheir new life and pay little attention to health issues, especiallyreproductive health.

Due to the lack of knowledge about reproductive healthcare,especially screening and early detection of children's diseases in the fetalstage, many couples have had children with birth defects, brain hernia,hydrocephalus, cerebral palsy, musculoskeletal defects, cleft lips,malformations of limbs or genital organs.

It is worth mentioning that most of these issues can be preventedif husbands and wives-to-be receive good premarital guidance and care for theirreproductive health.

“In developed countries, pre-marital health tests are mandatory.However, in our country, many couples have not taken this issue seriously,” shesaid.

“Many young people do not have sufficient information andknowledge about pre-marital health examination. Most are afraid of being caughtby their relatives and friends or worried that the disease discovered may ruintheir marriage plans while others think the issue of check-ups will likely bemisunderstood as lacking trust in the other. Therefore, the number of couplesgoing for pre-marital health check-ups remains very low.”

In remote and mountainous areas, this issue is even worse. Due tocustoms and habits, many people do not fully understand the importance ofpre-marital health checks, and prenatal and newborn screening, leading to the birthof children with birth defects.

It is estimated that each year, Vietnam has about 40,000 babiesborn with birth defects. Common diseases are Down's, Edwards syndrome, neuraltube defects, congenital hypothyroidism, G6PD enzyme deficiency, and severecongenital hemolysis.

Huong said the purpose of pre-marital counseling and medicalexamination is to prepare the knowledge and psychology for married sex life,detect and treat early (if possible) some diseases that can affect sexproblems, pregnancy, and childbirth later, prepare wives with health conditionsfor safe pregnancy and prevent birth defects for future children.

During the pre-marital health check-up, couples are given ageneral health check and reproductive health check (ultrasound of the uterus,ovaries, semen analysis), and assess the possibility of carrying the diseasegene based on their family’s medical history.

This will help avoid having children with some common geneticdiseases such as color blindness, thalassemia, Down's, Turner or Edwardsyndromes and screening for infectious diseases such as hepatitis B and HIV andother sexually transmitted diseases.

Couples with detected reproductive health issues will be able totake measures to increase their chances of pregnancy. In case one or bothpartners are found to have certain conditions, they will be given timelyremedies, she stressed.

Huong said the appropriate time for pre-marital health tests forcouples should be at least six months before marriage.

‘Barriers must be lifted’

The Ministry of Health’s General Department of Population andFamily Planning has coordinated with localities to implement pre-maritalcounseling and health examination in 63 cities and provinces since 2013.Thousands of pre-marital counseling and health check-up clubs have beenestablished in 1,400 communes with the participation of millions of youngpeople.

These clubs provide information and advice on reproductivehealthcare and family planning and give health examinations for couplespreparing for marriage.

Reports on the results of the model in 2011-2015 showed that 78.8 %of the participants had knowledge about reproductive healthcare and familyplanning.

Huong said the results show that young men and women's awarenessand practice of seeking counseling services and pre-marital health check-upsremain low.

The service has not yet become a demand due to social prejudices,cultural practices, the disparity in education level, and limited availabilityof services.

In addition, the number of participants is limited due to thenature of their work and the fear of revealing their identities. A shortage offunding and weak coordination between the related agencies also leads to modestresults.

Resolution No 21-NQ/TW issued on October 25, 2017 set out targetsthat 90 % of young men and women receive pre-marital counseling and healthcheck-ups by 2030.

Huong said a lot must be done to lift the barriers and achieve thegoals.

It is necessary to develop and expand the services to thecommunity and improve the capacity to provide services at health clinics.

Applying new techniques in screening, diagnosis and treatment of anumber of genetic and infectious diseases and developing mechanisms andpolicies for private businesses to provide pre-marital counseling and healthcheck-up services should be done soon.

In particular, ministries and sectors need to focus on educatingand disseminating the issue to attract young people, especially those indisadvantaged and ethnic minority areas, to take pre-marital health tests, shesaid./.