The Hisbah Board in Kano has uncovered health conditions among intended couples, including HIV/AIDS, Hepatitis B, and those carrying an early pregnancy ahead of the consummation of a sponsored mass wedding in the state.
Hisbah’s spokesperson, Lawan Ibrahim Fagge, told The Guardian that most of those found with the conditions realised their status for the first time after they were subjected to medical tests.
The state government re-introduced the mass wedding initiative with 3,600 men and women selected to benefit from government funding to set up their marital homes.
N800 million was budgeted for the mass wedding as part of palliatives by the government.
The Director General of the Board, Barrister Abba Sufi, had told journalists plans to sponsor a bill that mandates pre-marital screening to determine the health status of couples.
According to him, the laws will allow anyone with diseases like HIV and other conditions to be advised appropriately, while those with other ailments that could be treated will be placed on medication immediately.
“The discovery has proven the importance of pre-marital screening, which has made it essential for us not to take things for granted. For instance, what we discovered during the screen is because we mandated it.
“Only God knows the number of children that are going to be born as sickle cell patients, and so many diseases will also be transmitted among people,” he said.
Sufi added that in Islam, it was forbidden for pregnant women to get married, adding that so far, the board had completed the screening of 1,600 people from the 44 local government areas of the state.
