Hyderabad :
When 27-year-old Sumit Kanwar of Madhapur was told by his bride-to-be Deepa to go for a sperm cell analysis and HIV tests before marriage, he was embarrassed and clueless until he was told where to go for the tests.
To take advantage of the marriage season, a number of hospitals and diagnostic centres in the twin cities are offering pre-marital medical tests which might still sound awkward to conservative would-be couples in Hyderabad.
And with more than 100 divorce cases filed every month, a bulk on health issues such as impotency, it has been good news for some hospitals and diagnostic centres, lawyers and hospital officials said.
These pre-marital health screening packages consists of HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases, Hepatitis B , diabetes , thyroid and infertility tests for women and sperm count tests for men. “From the time we started these tests we had been getting more woman customers than men,” said S I Ali, general physician and owner, Biosytech Healthcare. “I had started this initiative because I strongly felt that these tests should be made mandatory before marriage. Instead of facing problems after marriage, it is better to completely be aware of each other’s health condition. Nowadays impotency has become a common problem,” he added.
These tests cost anywhere from Rs 400 to Rs 1000 for each individual depending on the standard of the hospital.
Encouraged by the response, Ali is promoting these tests online and also running campaigns so as to increase awareness about these tests. These packages are also being named creatively so as to attract the customers and hospitals say they get at least 40 inquiries a month on an average.
Medinova hospitals named their pre-marital screening package as “Shubh Aarambh”, which costs Rs 899 for an individual. “We have started this package so that couples can lead a healthy married life,” said Ashok Kumar, general manager, Medinova Diagnostic centre.
“People have become open-minded nowadays and do not mind going for such tests before marriage. These tests will go a long way in helping not just the couple but also in keeping their future generations healthy.”
Depending upon the customers’ request, the labs also are also open to including add-on tests. “The basic pre-marriage screening test costs around Rs 700 but there are a few customers who would want more tests to be extra sure. For them we are flexible with our package and offer add-ons like complete semen analysis or complete urine examination and others,” Praveen Kumar, manager of scope labs said.
source: http://www.timesofindia.com / Home> City> Hyderabad / TNN / December 18th, 2012