Fatimah (left) chairing the One Stop Teenage Pregnancy Committee meeting.
KUCHING: The number of teenage pregnancy cases in Sarawak has declined by 14.7 per cent – only 2,481 cases in 2016 against 2,909 cases in 2015.
In terms of age groups, 52 per cent (1,293 cases) are those between 15 and 17 years old, 44 per cent (1,084 cases) from 18 to 19 years old and 104 cases (four per cent) from 10 to 14 years old.
“Despite the decline to the number of cases, Sarawak remains the second highest in terms of teenage pregnancy cases,” Minister of Welfare, Women and Community Wellbeing Datuk Fatimah Abdullah told a press conference after chairing the One Stop Teenage Pregnancy Committee (OSTPC) meeting here yesterday.
OSTPC started operation in October 2014 and has 12 divisons in Sarawak, headed by the respective residents.
Fatimah also noted that Kapit had the highest teenage pregnancy cases with 232 (14.1 per cent) in 2016.
She also revealed that Iban teenagers recorded the highest number with 1,257 cases which contributed to 52 per cent of the total 2,481 cases in 2016, followed by Malays (518 cases) and Bidayuhs (209 cases).
Another major concern to the OSTP committee is that 94.3 per cent of all the cases in 2016 involved teenagers who have dropped out of school and 54.1 per cent still unmarried.
“By dropping out of school at the tender age of 10 to 15 years old, what would their qualifications be when they opt to apply for jobs in the future.”
Fatimah asked, adding that this would also eliminate the need for the teens to be overly dependent on their spouse.
Besides providing a holistic system to provide a teenage mother and her child welfare assistance, OSTPC also advocated against the occurance of a second pregnancy among teenagers.
OSTPC would strenghten the process and procedures of the committee through a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) this year, which would be distributed to all OSTPC members and community leaders in each division.
“I am glad that the committee has completed the SOP which will act as a guide for the new officers or residents in each division,” said Fatimah.