Mir24: Frequent cases of incest and consanguineous marriages in Azerbaijan led to banning marriages without doctor’s note
Local legislatives in Azerbaijan banned marriages without a doctor’s note. The doctor must confirm that the couple has no serious genetic diseases. The law came into force on 1 June, 2015, TV channel Mir24 reports.
“Now to the groom’s proposal ‘Let’s get married’ will answer the doctor, rather than the bride. The note includes the results of the blood test. In case the laboratory research discovers a serious disease, the couple will be categorically banned from getting married,” according to the report.
Mir24 says that such kind of control is necessary in Azerbaijan as the marriages between relatives are frequent here. The incest may result in various pathologies. Of 150 thousand children born every year, 10 per cent have congenital anomalies, and many of them do not reach the age of 30.
“200 children with thalassemia and 300 children with hemophilia were born in Azerbaijan last year. Those diseases cause disabilities. Today the medicine is so developed that the medical research carried out in time will help the couples have a healthy baby,” chairman of Social Policy Committee of Parliament of Azerbaijan, Hadi Rajabali, stresses.
The officials and doctors in Azerbaijan hope that the introduction of the new law will cut off the number of consanguineous marriages, and healthy children will be born to young families. Today there are more than 500 thousand disabled in the Azerbaijani republic. 60 thousand of them are underage children. The main reason appears to be the consanguineous marriages.
News portal Caucasian Knot adds that the parliament of Azerbaijan adopted amendments to the Family Code on 17 October, 2014, according to which those who wish to get married must have medical examination. The amendments were supposed to come into force on 1 January, 2015 but consequently it was postponed till June 1. In line with the amendments that came into force, the government has confirmed “The list of the diseases for which the individuals who want to get married need to be examined,” “The rules of the medical examination of those who want to get married” and “The form of the note certifying that the individuals who want to get married have had medical examination.”
According to Caucasian Knot, the results of the medical examination are handed over to the couple in a special written form. The couples are also given notes to show to the Ministry of Justice. The notes include the results of the examination. The head of the health facility and the doctor responsible for the examination sign the document which is later certified with the seal of the health facility. The doctor’s note must be provided within 2 weeks following the application of the citizens who want to get married.
“People can get married but they will not get a state registration, which will consequently lead to problems while dealing with various property, civil and legal issues,” Musa Guliyev, a member of the Azerbaijani National Assembly Committee for Social Policy, said. Those getting married will be able to register even if the doctors reveal problems constituting threat to their mutual health as well as that of their future children, he added.
The Information agency Turan writes that the medical examinations in the districts are carried out in central hospitals of the districts or in city hospitals indicated by the health department beforehand. Those getting married in Baku can have medical examination in the polyclinics in every administrative district, central blood bank of Azerbaijan Scientific Research Institute of Hematology and its regional branches, and in the Republican Perinatal Center.
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