Such information might not always be accurate, WAO communication officer Tan Heang Lee said.

Tan, as well as parenting activist Noor Azimah Abdul Rahim and a lecturer in medicine, Harlina Halizah Siraj, told FMT the very ubiquity of online materials, including misleading ones, made it necessary for Malaysian youths to have access to comprehensive sex education in formal settings.

They said such programmes must cover both the biological and psychosocial aspects of sex.

Referring to a survey carried out among Malaysian youths, Tan noted that 79% of the respondents claimed to have received some form of sexual reproduction health education, but more than half found the information to be inadequate in helping them make informed decisions.

The survey had 1,071 respondents, aged between 18 and 29. It was conducted nationwide by Durex and Perspective Strategies with the support of the Ministry of Women, Family and Community Development.

Repeating a familiar complaint by Malaysian activists, Tan said efforts to implement comprehensive sex education were often hindered by cultural taboos.

Noor Azimah, who heads the Parents Action Group for Education, said the taboo was often mistaken to be a religious injunction when it was in fact no more than cultural.

She also said abstinence from sex, as advocated by religious leaders, was less effective than comprehensive education in ensuring sexual health.

Harlina, who teaches at Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia’s Medical Centre, said abstinence would work only with those who had yet to experience sex.

“Those who already have had the experience at a young age will require a different approach,” she added.

The Washington Post recently published a report saying abstinence-only programmes did a poor job of making young people avoid sex. The article was based on two scientific papers in the Journal of Adolescent Health.