Kano State government says it has commenced pre-marital screening of 1,800 prospective couples to ascertain their fitness.

This, according the Commissioner for Health, Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, is part of the prerequisites of marrying off the intending couples.

The Commissioner made the disclosure at Hisbah Board Headquarters in Kano, where the screening took off, on Friday.

According to a statement by Kano State Agency for the Control of AIDS (KSACA) Public Relations Officer, Aminu Bello Sani, the screening exercise is aimed at avoiding transmitting diseases to each other and the community.

Dr. Yusuf said eight different tests, ranging from Genotype, HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis A, B and C, and syphilis, among others, were being conducted.

He said if any of the diseases is found in couples, those that can be treated would be treated while those that need referral would be sent to the hospital for further care.

The Commissioner added that the State government will soon promulgate a law that will enforce the pre-marital screening before wedlock while commending the actions of Imams in the state for insisting on seeing the premarital certificate before consummating marriages.

Earlier, the Director General of KSACA, Dr. Usman Bashir, said the screening will hold on a cluster basis within 2 weeks and will cover 30 to 50 sets of couples from each of the 44 local government areas of the state.

Dr. Usman Bashir commended Governor Alhaji Abba Kabir Yusuf for approving the ongoing screening to ascertain the health fitness including HIV/AIDS status.

Daily Trust reports that over 4,000 intending couples have so far been screened for the mass wedding, according to the state’s Hisbah board. (Daily Trust)