Materia Medica Malaysiana

Six out of 10 women practise family planning, says study

KUALA LUMPUR: Six out of 10 Malaysian women practise family planning, according to a study by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry.
The study, carried out last year, also found that 42% of the women who did so used modern methods to space their pregnancy, Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said.
“With modern technology, we hope family planning can become more user-friendly to attract more women to use it,” she told reporters after the pre-launch of the Women’s Health and Lifestyles (WHL) Programme 2005 at the ministry yesterday.
Meanwhile, organising chairman Dr Nor Ashikin Mokhtar said “health begins at home” would be the thrust of the three-day WHL exposition from Sept 23 to 25 at the Kuala Lumpur Convention Centre.
She said health involved a family’s lifestyle and healthcare, which determined the health of the family’s future generations.
“Health begins at home and it involves the entire family whose lifestyle and habits of eating and exercising will largely determine their future health and ability to enjoy a happy, long and productive life,” she said.
Dr Nor said the focus of the event, themed “Love Your Family, Celebrate Health”, would be on the importance of incorporating simple preventive and positive health behaviours into everyday life.
“The event is all about helping to meet the majority of people’s lifestyle-related needs through disease prevention and health preservation and health promotion,” she said.
Organised for the second year by the Women, Family and Community Development Ministry, the event will include educational activities for women and their family members such as seminars, exhibitions, free health screenings, performances and demonstrations.