Shenzhen plans to offer free premarital checkups citywide after a trial program in Futian and Yantian districts proved a success, Chinese-language papers reported yesterday.

More than 32.54 percent of newlyweds in Futian District have undergone premarital medical checkups since last June when the district first began offering the service, compared with 5.26 percent before, the city's health bureau said Tuesday.

The number has also jumped in Yantian since Sept. 1 last year when it toed Futian's line.

But the city's overall premarital health checkup rate remains quite low, raising the risk of birth defects, Chen Yumin, vice head of the bureau, said.

Some people chose not to undergo checkups, fearing the discovery of any disease would affect their marriage. Some other couples were too busy or too shy to take the tests. Some thought the tests, which cost more than 100 yuan (US$12), were unnecessary after undergoing annual medical checkups.

Last year, 92,588 babies were born healthy, up 21.27 percent from 2004.

The healthcare center for women and children found 13,677 thalassemia cases, and 947 babies with birth defects among 120,000 tested. Twenty-one pregnant women were found to have contracted HIV.

After the country abandoned compulsory premarital medical checkups in October 2003, the number of people taking the tests has fallen to less than 10 percent nationwide.

Editor: Donald