Egypt's Pre-marriage Medical Test Initiative targets 1.8M individuals per annum

CAIRO – 1 March 2022: Coordinator of the Pre-marriage Medical Test Initiative Mohamed Hassan stated in a phone-in Monday that the service is offered to the 1.8 million individuals who marry on average every year.  

Beneficiaries will be screened for diabetes, hypertension, obesity, and infectious diseases such as viral hepatitis and HIV. They will also be informed on means of birth control, ways to care for newborns, benefits of breastfeeding, and mechanisms that inhibit the transmission of diseases from the mother to unborn babies.

Hassan affirmed that medical teams providing the service are present in the rural and urban areas of the 27 governorates, noting that media must play a role in persuading couples to postpone pregnancy at the beginning of the marriage.