KUCHING: The Sarawak Family Planning Association (SFPA) has been asked to work closely with the One Stop Teenage Pregnancy Centre (OSTPC) to help reduce the number of cases involving teenage pregnancy.

Minister of Women, Welfare and Community Wellbeing Datuk Fatimah Abdullah said previously, many people only thought SFPA was associated with couples planning for birth gap between one child and the next for health reasons and also the wellbeing of the family.

“Now we would like the SFPA to work with us, especially the OSTPC to reach out to the teenagers in Sarawak.

“Please help to carry out the advocacy work to inform our teenagers of the perils of unplanned pregnancy,” she said at the Sarawak Women and Family Council (SWFC) appreciation ceremony in a hotel here yesterday.

Fatimah proposed for SFPA to visit the area where OSTPC would need its help because when it came to teenage pregnancy in Sarawak, the number was still quite high. She noted that last year, there were over 2,000 cases in the state – putting Sarawak on the second spot after Sabah as having the highest number of teenage pregnancy cases.

“We have many times explained and mentioned the fact that teenage pregnancy will not only affect the wellbeing of a family, but also the future of the girl.

“This is our appeal to SFPA – use the grant that is provided to you to help us to reduce teenage pregnancy cases in Sarawak,” she said.

At the ceremony, Fatimah gave away certificates of appreciation to the SWFC and also government grants to three non-government organisations (NGOs) – Sarakup Indu Dayak Sarawak (SIDS), Sarawak Federation of Women’s Institute (SFWI) and SFPA. SIDS, SFWI and SFPA received RM10,000, RM150,000 and RM20,000 respectively.