KUCHING: Sarawak has seen an overall 21 percent decrease in number of adolescent pregnancies from 2016 to last year and Datuk Seri Fatimah Abdullah hopes to see a further decline.
The Welfare, Community Wellbeing, Women, Family and Childhood Development Minister said that in 2016, there were 2,481 adolescent pregnancies recorded.
“This decreased to 1,967 last year, which is a reduction of 514 cases or 21 percent,” she told a press conference after chairing a Sarawak Women and Family Council (MWKS) meeting at Baitul Makmur 2 here on Tuesday (Dec 8).
She said as of September this year, 1,668 cases of adolescent pregnancy were reported.
On another matter, she said Sarawak ranked third in Malaysia in terms of mental health issues among children and adolescents at 14.1 percent after Perak at 19 percent and Perlis at 14.9 percent.
“The overall prevalence of mental health issues among children (aged five to 15 years) in Malaysia is 7.9 percent,” she said.
Fatimah said that during the Covid-19 pandemic and movement control order (MCO), tele-counselling services reported receiving a total of 273 cases.
“Guidance cases were the highest at 114 or 48.1 percent,” she said.
Fatimah added that at the beginning of the pandemic, many people faced anxiety and worry with 51 reported cases (21.52 percent), followed by career issues (8.44 percent), family (5.91 percent), finances (5.06 percent), and stress (4.64 percent).
On the Sarawakku Sayang Special Assistance (BKSS) package and hawkers/small business who had been left out, she said 2,286 individuals who applied through her ministry had not yet received their financial assistance.
“We will bring the matter up to the Economic Planning Unit (EPU) for BKSS 4.0,” she said.
The minister revealed that the topic of gender equality was also discussed during the MWKS meeting, emphasising that upholding gender equality would benefit and strengthen the society as a whole, reduce abuse and empower women to achieve their full potential.
To address the issue of the ageing population in Sarawak, Fatimah said there would be collaboration with MyAgeing Institute and an integrated day care centre for age concerns.
