Look at the real incidence of teen pregnancy

I REFER to the report “Teen pregnancies on the decline” (The Star, Oct 14), in particular the figures given in the “Teen pregnancy ages” graphic. For statistical reports, these are a measure of “teen births”, an important distinction because they exclude a large proportion of teen pregnancies that would have been either aborted or ended in miscarriage (both of which can only be estimated).

Field studies have shown that the ratio of pregnancies leading to live births, induced abortions or miscarriages is about 60:30:15 among pregnant teens. Thus, taking the approximate figure of 10,000 teen births in 2018, it probably means about 5,000 teens have had their pregnancies terminated and another 2,500 ended with miscarriage. Total teen pregnancies could actually then be 17,500 a year. Although this fall in teen births is encouraging, it is unlikely that it has been brought about by public policies alone. Attempts at introducing comprehensive sex education in schools and improving accessibility to contraceptives for teens and singles have been stigmatised for decades. More likely, this improvement is due to more information being available on the Internet, where Malaysians are forced to obtain the relevant information, both on contraception and abortion.