PUTRAJAYA - Sabah and Kelantan recorded the highest number of poor and undernourished children, a statistical profile by United Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) on Malaysian children showed.
The profile which was released today showed that Sabah and Kelantan topped the chart in the percentage of children living in poverty, at 31% and 15% respectively.
The proportion is in stark contrast with the national statistic, which stood at 9% and states like Selangor, Negeri Sembilan and Johor where only 2%-4% of their children were poor.
The two states also ranked second and third with about 7% of their children being under-nourished, according to the 2010 statistics. The national rate was about 4.6% but in Sarawak, the proportion is as high as 10.1%.
“We call for urgent protective measures to address the issue,” said Unicef official Roumiana Gantcheva, who was in-charged of drafting the report.
The report revealed the dire need for qualified doctor in Labuan, Sabah, Sarawak and Kelantan.
In 2010, every one doctor in Sabah had to serve 532 children below 15 years old, and every one of that in Kelantan had to serve 501 children. In comparison, every doctor in Kuala Lumpur was serving 78 children only.
Kelantan and Labuan also registered the highest number of children mortality rate, at 12.2% and 12.1% respectively.
“The risk of a new-born child in Kelantan to die before reaching the age of 5 years old is twice higher than the risk of a new-born in Kuala Lumpur.
“The risk of a Malay new-born to die before reaching the age of one year old is twice as high as the risk of a Chinese new-born,” it stated.
The report, however, failed to shed lights on the reason behind the two states’ poor performance in children rights, as Roumiana said further analysis on the data is required.
Child abuse on the rise
Meanwhile, the report showed the number of child abuse cases quadrupled from 934 in year 2000 to 3,831 cases last year.
The risk of a girl to fall victim to child abuse is twice as high as a boy, Roumiana noted.
She said while the increase may be partly due to improved reporting, the gender gap remained high over time.
“The proportions of neglect and sexual abuse increased over the time, which we call for further researches and policy-maker to look into the issues, especially on the disturbing trends,” she said.
By Leven Woon
Sabah again? This is so pathetic
ReplyDeletedi Sabah, adakah mereka kaji samada mereka yang terlibat tu bumiputera, warga asing atau sebagainya??
DeleteSabah harus maju ke depan
ReplyDeleteThis is misleading
ReplyDeletehope there's no bias and the statistic give the truth.
DeleteI thought Terengganu will make the list
ReplyDeleteThis is something we need to put our concern
ReplyDeleteKelantan government should do something about it
ReplyDeleteWe need to be honest on what we have
ReplyDeleteUnit Perancang Ekonomi perlu disemak semula garis panduan berhubung takrif kemiskinan supaya ia lebih mencerminkan realiti semasa.
ReplyDeletegaris kemiskinan yang lebih realistik perlu diwujudkan bagi membolehkan kerajaan menggubal dasar serta program lebih berkesan untuk menangani masalah berkaitan kemiskinan.
ReplyDeleteKemiskinan perlu ditakrifkan semula dan ukuran berbeza perlu digunakan untuk mengetahui keadaan sebenar yang wujud di kalangan mereka pada peringkat paling bawah dari segi sosioekonomi
ReplyDeleteKini, garis kemiskinan kebangsaan adalah berdasarkan pendapatan bulanan minimum isi rumah sebanyak RM760 di Semenanjung Malaysia, RM1,050 di Sabah dan RM910 di Sarawak.
ReplyDeletePendapatan Garis Kemiskinan (PGK) dan ukuran pendapatan perlu diubah supaya ia menjurus ke arah menggunakan pendekatan pelbagai dimensi apabila mengambil kira faktor seperti keperluan dan hak asasi manusia serta kualiti kehidupan.
ReplyDeletetumpuan perlu diberi terhadap usaha menangani kemiskinan bandar, yang diburukkan lagi oleh pelbagai isu yang belum selesai seperti kemudahan awam dan rumah pangsa kos rendah yang belum mencukupi.
ReplyDeleteLangkah segera perlu diambil untuk menangani kemiskinan bandar dan kawasan kediaman golongan berpendapatan rendah dengan menggunakan kaedah yang membabitkan pelbagai agensi, disiplin dan pasukan penyampaian pelbagai etnik
ReplyDeleteMalaysia mempunyai rancangan pembangunan makro yang baik dan memberi keutamaan terhadap agihan pertumbuhan secara menyeluruh.
ReplyDeletewalaupun kemiskinan dalam erti kata sebenar berjaya dikurangkan, ketidaksamarataan pendapatan meningkat dengan ketara di kalangan pelbagai kumpulan etnik di negara ini, sekali gus, melebarkan jurang ketidaksamarataan antara masyarakat bandar dan luar bandar.
ReplyDeletePeningkatan ketidaksamarataan dalam konteks inflasi dan jenayah memberi kesan negatif terhadap 40 peratus golongan yang berada di tangga paling bawah sosioekonomi, yang berpendapatan kurang RM3,000 sebulan di kawasan bandar.
ReplyDeletedasar yang perlu dilaksanakan Malaysia sekarang mestilah yang bermatlamat untuk mewujudkan kesamarataan dari segi peluang, bukan keesamarataan dari segi pendapatan.
ReplyDelete