A proposal to expand premarital medical examinations to include mental health assessments and drug screening was rejected by MPs following extensive debate during Parliament’s weekly session yesterday.
The proposal sought to broaden the definition of “medical examination” to include “mental health evaluation and screening for the use or abuse of illicit drugs or narcotics”, alongside existing checks for hereditary and communicable diseases.
“The family is the foundation of society, and ensuring its stability starts with the health – both physical and mental – of its members,” said Strategic Thinking Bloc member Bassema Mubarak who spearheaded the proposal.
“This amendment is about prevention. We want to protect families from avoidable psychological and social challenges that may emerge when mental illness or substance abuse goes undetected before marriage.”
She argued that just as mandatory premarital testing has helped reduce genetic disorders, psychological and behavioural screening could help reduce divorce rates and strengthen family stability.
However, both the Health Ministry and the Supreme Council of Health warned that the move was impractical and inconsistent with the objectives of the existing law which focuses exclusively on hereditary and infectious diseases, such as sickle cell anaemia, thalassemia, hepatitis B, HIV/AIDS, and syphilis which can be transmitted between spouses or passed on to children.
“Mental health and addiction assessments fall outside the scope of the current law,” they said.
“These are not transmissible conditions and require specialised clinical evaluation rather than standard laboratory tests.”
Health experts also raised concerns about confidentiality, diagnostic complexity and false positives in drug testing, arguing that the process could become invasive and unreliable.
Parliament’s services committee chairman Mamdooh Al Saleh reiterated the committee’s earlier recommendation to reject the proposal.
“It is neither practical nor aligned with medical and international standards,” he said.
“No country mandates psychological or drug screening as a condition for marriage.”
The committee’s report also highlighted implementation challenges, including the time required for psychological evaluations and the lack of a consistent framework to interpret drug test results.
* A new legislative proposal seeking to exempt social and youth associations from value-added tax (VAT) was unanimously approved by MPs yesterday.
The proposed amendment to the VAT Law, submitted by five MPs led by Hanan Fardan, aims to add a new clause under Article (53) of Decree-Law No (48) of 2018 on value-added tax.
The proposed article stipulates that: “The supply of social care services and related goods and services to social and cultural societies, clubs and private entities operating in the field of youth and sports shall be subject to a zero per cent VAT rate.”
It has been referred to the Cabinet to draft as proper law.
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