The women, family and community development minister said 44,263 teenage pregnancies were reported within the past five years, of which 17,646 involved teenagers who were not married when pregnant.

Nancy urged members of the public to be careful when commenting on the matter as not all teenage pregnancies happened out of wedlock, Harian Metro reported.

“This is why we need to be careful in issuing statements on teenage pregnancies because a large portion of them involve teenage girls who were already legally married through customary marriages,” she was quoted as saying.

She nonetheless said her ministry has taken various steps to address the matter, particularly programmes aimed at raising reproductive and social health awareness.

The minister acknowledged that sex education was still taboo among parents and society, but said this would only cause teens to be all the more curious about the subject.

Sabah recorded 1,500 cases of underage pregnancies between 2017 and 2021. In 2022, the Bornean state recorded 329 teenage pregnancies, the second-highest among all states then.

On the other hand, Sarawak recorded 2,026 teenage pregnancies last year, a 32% increase from the 1,536 reported the year prior. This was however still a 40% reduction compared with 2014.