The Ministry of Health is launching a programme in schools nationwide “to curb social problems” among students, including premarital sex, teen pregnancy and the abandoning of babies.
The Deputy Minister of Health, Rosnah Abdul Rashid Shirlin, said that if everything went according to plan, the programme would be implemented in August.
“The ministry feels the need to be more proactive in addressing social problems among youngsters and we hope everybody will cooperate.
“This programme will involve reproductive science which is closely related with our efforts to curb social problems,” she told reporters after presenting awards to excellent students at Sekolah Menengah Kebangsaan Perempuan Likas, today.
(This report does not go into detail about the programme’s contents, such as what is meant by ‘social problems’ and how these have been identified to be related to reproductive science. Nor does it identify who are its facilitators, the breadth of its coverage, etc.)
Rosnah said prevention is better than cure, especially in cases involving abandoned babies. “At the ministry level, prevention programme will be intensified. The focus is not only on infectious diseases, but also social problems, like babies born out of wedlock,” she added.
(This report does not carry a response from the minister as to whether it is the stigma of having babies out of wedlock that causes them to be abandoned.)
– Bernama
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