Chinese authorities are worried about a drastic decline in the number of engaged couples having premarital physical checkups.

Since the government made checks on reproductive health non-compulsory in 2003, fewer and fewer people have been choosing to have them, with many regions reporting a corresponding increase in birth defects.

Beijing resident Zhu Hongfang and her boyfriend plan to tie the knot soon, but a premarital checkup is not on their agenda.

“I can’t see the point, as we have the checkups organized by our employers once a year and we’re both healthy,” Zhu said.

The premarital checkup rate in Beijing fell to under 7 percent in 2014, according to Xi Shuyan, an official with the city’s municipal health and family planning commission.

In Guangzhou, capital of South China’s Guangdong Province just 7 percent of people got a premarital checkup in 2011.

Meanwhile, as well as increased birth defects, there has been a higher rate of diseases found in premarital checkups since 2003.

In 1996, 5 percent of people taking checkups in Beijing were found to have diseases, while the rate increased to 13 percent in 2014.

Statistics from Guangdong claim almost 3 percent of newborns in cities in the Pearl River Delta had birth defects in 2011, roughly double the percentage in 2001.

According to the National Health and Family Planning Commission, about 900,000 babies are born with mental or physical disabilities every year in China.

Xi said some diseases have a great influence on marriage and childbirth, not only affecting the health of the couple but also causing infertility or birth defects.

“Although the rise in birth defects rate is a result of multiple causes, the drop in premarital checkups is an important one,” she said.

Beijing has been providing premarital checkups for over 30 years. The service has been free for permanent residents since 2006.

Geng Yutian, deputy director of the Beijing health commission, said authorities should improve services during premarital checkups and use publicity to raise awareness of their importance.

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