Govt moves to regulate DNA paternity testing

Government has moved to head off the brewing social storm stirred by a sharp rise in demand for Deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) paternity testing, saying yesterday that it recognises the potential danger posed to society if the service is left unregulated.

“Part of the concern is on the laboratories and the tests being carried out. The Ministry of Health this morning held a meeting with various labs and managers and an assessment is being carried out to check whether or not these labs are accredited,” he said yesterday.

Over the past month, Ugandans have encountered troubling reports of more men filing for divorce, while others are vigorously pursuing changes in children’s particulars on national personal data registers after paternity tests proved they did not father the said children. Reports of traumatised fathers abandoning their homes after discovering the painful truth that they did not sire the children in the family, have been dominating the news. 

With a rise in demand for DNA testing, the police has warned that unscrupulous people could soon start peddling fake services, taking advantage of unsuspecting husbands desperate to confirm the paternity of their offspring.

A senior Health ministry official revealed that talks are underway between the government and owners of facilities which offer DNA paternity testing to agree how best to effect regulation. 

The head of public health department at the ministry, Dr Daniel Kyabayinze, told this publication that the ongoing discussions are focusing on the question of “quality assurance”. 

Some marriage counsellors and social commentators attribute the rising demand for paternity testing services to a growing trust deficit and moral decay among couples in Uganda.
 
Also, prevailing economic hardships have forced more men to think twice about raising someone else’s children.