Certificate might not invade rights—officer

Press, 2 October 1987, Page 4

Certificate might not invade rights—officer

’ Individual rights might not be necessarily invaded if a medical certificate were required before a marriage licence was granted, said the Medical Officer of Health in Christchurch, Dr Bill Malpress, yesterday. Dr Malpress was commenting on a debate prompted by a Christchurch Anglican vicar’s proposal that the Church consider the consequences and practicalities of requiring couples to seek medical certificates before marrying. The vicar of St Albans, the Rev. David Pickering, has said that he was not advocating that ministers should see what was on the certificate or refuse .to marry the couple if they did not produce one, but he was concerned about the possibility of future children catching hereditary or sexually transmitted diseases from their parents. “Individual rights might not necessarily be intruded on if the health services of the nation offered or provided a proper service which allowed people to make in-

formed decisions,” said Dr Malpress. There was a "groundswell” of people in the medical profession who were keen to see people recognise the risks associated with certain genetic or acquired diseases, as there were a lot of hereditary disorders and sexually transmitted diseases that couples could pass on to each other or to their children. Having a health check, immunisations against certain viruses, and having a general chat with the family doctor was a ’•very responsible” act for any couple contemplating marriage or living together, said Dr Malpress. “Traditionally it has tended to be the woman who gets herself checked, but I think it is a good idea for the man to also get checked,” he said. Childlessness was often a cause of much disappointment for couples, who found after they were married that one or the other was infertile. Hereditary congenital defects could also be

unwittingly passed on, said Dr Malpress 1 Persons who had a family history of mental disorders could well face a greater risk of passing on the disorder if they married someone with a similar history. * Several specialists in hereditary disorders in Christchurch were willing to offer screening and advice. Many people were already going for advice on their own initiative. The danger of AXDX, syphilis, gonorrhoea, and many other sexually —mined diseases was perhaps one reason for the State to step in, but really the issue came back to education and people making “informed choices” based on readily available information, he said. Whether a medical certificate or blood testing should be made a legal requirement for marriage would have to be weighed against the need for confidentiality and the safeguarding of individual rights, as well as the rights of and long-term risks to society, said Dr Malpress.