Family Code of Azerbaijan to be changed

Amendments and additions related to marriage issues may be injected to the Family Code of Azerbaijan, Deputy Chairman of the Azerbaijani parliament's Social Policy Committee Musa Guliyev said. He pointed out, that the document providing for the mandatory medical examination upon entry into marriage is ready.

“In other words, individuals wishing to marry will be required to undergo a medical examination and to inform each other about their health status. The bodies of civil registration will instruct couples to undergo medical examination. If they do not provide information about the state of their health, their marriage will not be registered,” the parliamentarian said.

According to the MP, the amendments have been developed because of some inherited diseases transmitted by blood.

"Azerbaijan is one of the countries, where such diseases as thalassemia and hemophilia are developed. There are about 1,000 thalassemia patients in Azerbaijan. If no appropriate preventive measures are taken, number of these patients may be even higher in 45 years.”

“A person born with this disease, unfortunately, does not live long. Though such patients are treated, they pass away in 18-20 years. The state budget allocated 10 million manat for treatment of patients with thalassemia and hemophilia this year,” the MP added.

“In addition, there are also diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, AIDS, HIV infection, and others. I believe that if these changes are made to the Family Code, it will be possible to prevent spouses from being infected with such diseases, and most importantly, to ensure health of a newborn baby. Some countries have already practiced this method of dealing with illnesses," Guliyev said.

According to him, if some of the above diseases are found in one of the contracting parties, they will decide themselves how to act further.

"There is no penalty for a failure to avoid medical examination. However, if the persons wishing to marry do not pass medical examination, their marriage, as I noted above, will not be registered. Perhaps this issue will be discussed at a meeting of the Milli Majlis spring session," the MP added.


/Day.Az/