BABY DUMPING WILL CONTRIBUTE TO INCREASE IN INFANT MORTALITY RATE - FORMER PM'S WIFE

CYBERJAYA, Sept 27 (Bernama) -- The infant mortality rate in the country is
feared will rise again if the problem of baby dumping is not addressed urgently,
said former prime minister Dr Mahathir Mohamad's wife Dr Siti Hasmah
Mohd Ali.

Hasmah said before Malaysia gained independence, the high infant mortality
rate then was mainly due to diseases like polio, malaria, smallpox and others
but with continuous health campaigns, it was drastically reduced.

"But it is not impossible that the infant mortality rate can rise again if
social ills plaguing the country like baby dumping are not tackled urgently,"
she when delivering a lecture entitled "Medical Profession: Opportunities and
Challenges" at Cyberjaya University College of Medical Sciences (CUCMS) here
Monday.

At a press conference afterwards, Hasmah said continuous effort was needed
to tackle social problems afflicting adoloscents in the country, including
introducing sex education in schools.

Asked about the move by Melaka to establish a school to protect female
students who get pregnant out of wedlock, she said it was an effort to address
the problem of baby dumping but what was more important was having holistic
religious education.


On other matters, Hasmah said doctors should be willing to work anywhere
they were posted, be it rural or urban areas including in Sabah and Sarawak as
they would gain invaluable experience no matter where they were.

She also advised doctors not to be too pre-occupied with financial rewards
as serving humanity provided a greater satisfaction.

A doctor could derive no greater satisfcation than seeing their patients
cured and leave a hospital with a happy face, she added.

-- BERNAMA