SEVEN CASES OF ABANDONED BABIES IN FIRST WEEK OF YEAR

KUALA LUMPUR, Jan 8 (Bernama) -- Seven cases of abandoned babies were
reported in the first week of 2011, compared with 91 for the whole of last year.

Minister of Women, Family and Community Development Shahrizat
Abdul Jalil said the disheartening statistics should spur rather than daunt
efforts to curb the problem.

"We cannot despair. On the contrary, we must intensify our campaign," she
told reporters here after introducing the We Care campaign to the International
Islamic University of Malaysia with about 1,000 students present.

The campaign, launched in March last year, is to stop the abandoning of
babies and protect children with the involvement of all sectors of society.



Shahrizat hoped that the Reproductive Health and Social Education subject
introduced in schools this year would help overcome the problem of abandoned
babies.

She also said that the family perspective should be given priority in the
development of the nation to ensure quality human resources, especially people
below 24 who make up 49 per cent of the population.

-- BERNAMA