KOTA KINABALU: Teenage pregnancy and early marriage remain pressing issues in Sabah, due to societal pressure, poverty, lack of sex education and reproductive health knowledge, says state Community Development and People’s Wellbeing assistant minister Datuk Flovia Ng.
These issues, if not tackled, would continue the cycle of poverty and student attrition in Sabah, she said.
“This will affect the development of our youth,” she said on Thursday when launching the Sabah Population Seminar in conjunction with World Population Day.
Ng said the increase in unplanned pregnancies and emotional stress among young mothers needed targeted intervention initiatives, comprehensive reproductive health education and easy access to counselling services.
The state government, she said, would strive to address this matter by holding high impact intervention programmes.
She said the social and economic gaps between urban and rural folks were still apparent, with many in the rural areas facing issues such as a lack of basic infrastructure, education, healthcare and job opportunities.
“Demographically, Sabah is seeing a shift where the percentage of elderly communities is now at 9%, while the fertility rate has dropped to 1.5 children per woman of reproductive age (15 to 49),” said Ng.
“This is far from the 2.1 child (population replacement level) per woman target,” she said.
This would affect the future population structure and economic development for Sabah, she added.
She described this as a crisis which needs attention and action to be taken at the national level.
Ng said it was important to build and sustain family institutions for the early development of a child, as this could ensure their wellbeing and growth.
