Photo of couple wearing wedding rings: iStock
Ahead of the state-sponsored mass wedding in Kano, the Hisba Commission has uncovered the health status of couples intending to marry, including HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B and early pregnancy among couples.
Lawan Ibrahim Fagge, a spokesman for Hisbah, told the Guardian that most people found to have the disease first became aware of it after undergoing medical tests status.
The NNPP government has re-launched the Group Marriage Scheme, selecting 3,600 men and women to benefit from government funding to build their matrimonial homes. As part of the mitigation measures, the state government has approved a budget of N800 million for mass weddings.
Lawyer Abba Sufi, the council’s director-general, told reporters there were plans to sponsor a bill that would require premarital screening to determine a couple’s health status.
According to him, the law will allow anyone found to be suffering from HIV and other diseases to receive appropriate advice, while those suffering from other treatable diseases will be immediately given medication.
“This finding demonstrates the importance of premarital screening, which we cannot take for granted. For example, what we find on our screens is because we enforce it,” Sophie said. “God only knows how many children will become sick, and many diseases can be spread from person to person.”
Sufi added that in Islam, it is forbidden for pregnant women to marry, adding that so far, the committee has completed screening of 1,600 people in 44 local government areas of the state.