Unwanted teenage pregnancies rising alarmingly in Malaysia

Petaling Jaya (Malaysia) June 26 (ANI): Teenage pregnancies are becoming a disturbing trend in Malaysia, with a large number of girls seeking help from the Welfare Department about their predicament.

The department has already recorded 111 such cases this year, which is a dramatic increase compared to the 131 cases in 2009. There were 107 teenage girls who were pregnant in 2008.

"Many cases have gone unreported, they have disappear and some even ran away from home, while others threw away their newborn babies" The Star quoted MCA Public Services and Complaints Department head Michael Chong, as saying.

According to the paper, this scenario is not confined to Malaysia alone.

In the United States, statistics showed that pregnancies among girls between the ages of 15 and 19 have gone up three percent from 2005 to 2006. (ANI)