KOTA BHARU: Cases of out-of-wedlock pregnancies for adolescents aged between 15 and 19 is showing a downward trend in the state, said Kelantan Deputy Menteri Besar Datuk Dr Mohamed Fadzli Hassan.
He said based on the National Health and Mobility Study Report 2022 recorded by the Kelantan Islamic Religious Affairs Department, the number of cases of out-of-wedlock pregnancy in 2021 was 146 cases, dropping to 136 cases in 2022 and 61 cases in 2023.
“The number of khalwat cases in Kelantan has also decreased from 196 cases in 2022 to 86 cases for the year 2023.
“This shows that the government’s move to implement various programmes either through education, the role of women’s excos and other approaches has an impact on the government’s efforts in tackling social ills in Kelantan,“ he said during the winding up session at the Kelantan State Legislative Assembly at the Kota Darulnaim Complex, here, today.
Fadzli, who is also chairman of the Regional Development, Natural Resources, Integrity, Human Development and Law Committee, said the state government had also taken the approach of setting up a central committee to tackle social ills in Kelantan.
According to him, the committee is not only made up of state government agencies but also involves federal government agencies such as the police, the Education Department and the state National Anti-Drugs Agency.
“We do not take issues of social ills in Kelantan lightly and that is why we have taken this approach by dividing it into nine clusters,“ he said, adding that the state government has prepared a special allocation to combat social ills among the people.
