Abdul Karim: Teenage pregnancy cases in Sarawak alarmingly high

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Abdul Karim (seated centre) in a group photo with the participants and others.

KUCHING: Minister of Youth and Sports Datuk Abdul Karim Rahman Hamzah calls for more community-based efforts to bring down the number of teenage pregnancy cases in Sarawak.

He said based on last year’s statistics, teenage pregnancy cases in Sarawak was among the highest in the country.

“This is worrying because the number of such cases has increased since 2012. The number of teenage pregnancy is 6.4 per cent to 9.9 per cent of total pregnancies in Sarawak, and this is high compared to the national average of 2.4 per cent to 4.1 per cent,” he said at the Social Intervention Programme: Sexual Education Advocation and Awareness programme at SMK Hajah Laila Taib in Asajaya yesterday.

Abd Karim, who is also Asajaya assemblyman, said a total 105 teenage pregnancy cases were recorded in Samarahan Division alone last year. Although it is a decrease of 18 cases or 14 cases compared to 123 cases in 2017, he said this number was still alarmingly high.

“There were already 28 cases recorded in the division in the first three months of this year. The government views this matter seriously, and we welcome cooperation from all sectors, including non governmental organisations (NGOs), to tackle this problem,” he said.

He also said similar programme would be conducted for Samarahan Division at SMK Simunjan No 1 soon.