Sarawak records 940 teen pregnancies in first half of 2024

KUCHING (July 12): The Sarawak Health Department has recorded 940 cases of teenage pregnancies this year from January to June, said Dato Sri Fatimah Abdullah.

The Minister for Women, Childhood and Community Wellbeing Development revealed that teenage pregnancies constituted 6.4 per cent of all new antenatal cases during this period.

“Of these pregnancies, 4.4 per cent involved girls under 16 years old, 31.3 per cent were among those aged 16 to 17, and the majority, 64.4 per cent (605 cases), were aged 18 to 19.

“Notably, 35.7 per cent (335 cases) of the pregnancies involved individuals under 18 years old,” she said after chairing the One Stop Teenage Pregnancy Committee (OSTPC) meeting at Wisma Bapa Malaysia here today.

She also highlighted that 62.55 per cent (588 cases) of the teenage mothers were unmarried, and 96 per cent (902 cases) of the pregnancies were reported for girls who were no longer attending school.

“Ethnically, 50.7 per cent of the cases were Iban, 22.1 per cent Malay, 6.8 per cent Bidayuh, and 6.6 per cent Chinese.

“By administrative divisions, Kapit Division recorded the highest per centage of teenage pregnancies at 12.64 per cent, followed by Sri Aman at 8.25 per cent, Bintulu 8.16 per cent, Sibu 7.52 per cent, and Sarikei 7.20 per cent,” she said.

Between January and June this year, the OSTPC issued 345 intervention referrals for welfare, legal matters, identification documents, schooling, protection, and support for the health of teenage mothers and their newborns.

Of these referrals, 57.1 per cent (197 cases) were fully resolved, 6.7 per cent (23 cases) could not be fully resolved, and 36.2 per cent (125 cases) are still ongoing.

Fatimah emphasised the importance of collective efforts in addressing teenage pregnancies.

As of June 2024, the Ministry, through the Sarawak Social Development Council has implemented four series of social programmes and interventions to meet the OSTPC’s objectives.

These include the Sexual Education Awareness and Advocacy Programme, which saw 2 series conducted in secondary schools; the “Program Randau Pembangunan Sosial”, which addressed teenage pregnancy, underage marriage, sexual crimes, and child safety in rural communities; and the Wacana Minda programme, which shared findings from the “Profile of Pregnant Teens in Sarawak” study with stakeholders and strategic partners.

“These initiatives are in line with the recommendations from the Adolescent Health Survey reported in the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022.

“The recommendations focus on strengthening sexual and reproductive health education, enhancing modules for parents and caregivers, further research on risky sexual behaviors, and employing creative approaches through social media, peer educator programmes, and public-private non-governmental organisations partnerships,” she said.

Meanwhile, the National Health and Morbidity Survey 2022’s Adolescent Health Survey covered 16 randomly selected secondary schools in Sarawak, with 2,189 out of 2,442 eligible students completing the survey, achieving an 89.6 per cent response rate.

The survey revealed that many sexually active adolescents engage in risky behaviors, such as having sex before age 14, multiple partners, and unprotected sex.

“The prevalence of sexual experience among adolescents was 9.1 per cent, with 11.7 per cent for males and 6.4 per cent for females. The prevalence of sexual intercourse was 6.4 per cent, with 7.9 per cent among males and 4.8 per cent among females.

“Of those who had sex, 33.6 per cent did so before age 14, and 12.6 per cent had at least two sexual partners. Only 13.0 per cent used condoms, and 13.2 per cent used other birth control methods,” she added.