Sex Education, Family Planning Can Prevent Abandoned Babies

General
July 10, 2008 20:31 PM

KUALA LUMPUR, July 10 (Bernama) -- Sex education and family planning are important to prevent unwanted pregnancies and abandoned babies since every 10 days, a baby is abandoned in the Klang Valley.A recent study initiated by the United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) Malaysia noted that abandoning babies was a serious social issue and there was a need for a safe haven for abandoned babies.Statistics from the Malaysian police indicate that about 100 babies are abandoned every year in Malaysia.

Meanwhile, in a statement issued here Thursday, UNFPA said at least 200 million women wanted to use safe and effective family planning methods, but were unable to do so because they lacked access to information and services or the support of their husbands and communities."More than 50 million of the 190 million women who become pregnant each year have abortions and many of these are clandestine and performed under unsafe conditions."The World Population Day, which falls tomorrow, provides a chance to raise awareness of the many benefits of family planning, including maternal health, gender equality and poverty reduction," it said.In the statement, UNFPA assistant representative Yeoh Yeok Kim said comprehensive sex education was also a strategy to curb and halt the spread of HIV/AIDS in the country.

"The Malaysian AIDS Council reported that more than 80,000 people in Malaysia have contracted HIV/AIDS and 10,000 people have died of AIDS since 1986," she said.The UNFPA ia an international development agency that promotes the right of every woman, man and child to enjoy a life of health and equal opportunity.It supports countries in using population data for policies and programmes to reduce poverty and to ensure that every pregnancy is wanted, every birth is safe, every young person is free of HIV/AIDS, and every girl and woman is treated with dignity and respect.
-- BERNAMA