Doctor in the House: Child Marriage Is Also A Public Health Issue

Dr George Lee, Consultant Urologist | Dato Dr Narimah Awin, Technical Advisor, Sexual & Reproductive Health & Rights, UNFPA Malaysia

02-Sep-22 16:00

Doctor in the House: Child Marriage Is Also A Public Health Issue

Pause
Embed

Kedah is now the latest state after Selangor to have banned child marriage, after amending its state laws to raise the minimum age of marriage for girls from 16 to 18. But in many states across Malaysia, child marriage is still permissible by law, and the government has stated that there are no plans to ban it yet, despite continued calls by child rights’ activists and NGOs. Consultant urologist Dr George Lee is joined by Dato’ Dr Narimah Awin, technical advisor on sexual and reproductive health and rights with UNFPA Malaysia, to dive into why it matters that we see child marriage as a public health issue. Dato’ Dr Narimah is also the former chairperson of the National Population and Family Development Board (LPPKN) and former director of the Family Health Development Division, Ministry of Health.

Image credit: Shutterstock

Produced by: Lim Sue Ann

Presented by: Tee Shiao Eek

This and more than 60,000 other podcasts in your hand. Download the all new BFM mobile app.

Categories: Family/Parenting, health policy, Law/Activism, controversies

Tags: infant health, child marriage, children's health, adolescent health, maternal health, maternal mortality, pregnancy, childbirth, mental health, sexual and reproductive health rights,

Today’s Shows

11:00 AM

Best of Enterprise

(REPEAT) How do we end the year on a high without relying solely on bonuses, pay rises, or one-off rewards? Yeoh Chen Chow, Founder of 1% Advisory and Coaching shares his thoughts.

12:00 PM

Just For Kicks

(REPEAT) Sean Malhotra and Bob Holmes join Daryl Ong to talk about football during the festive period - they look ahead to Matchweek 17 of the English Premier League.

1:00 PM

A Bit of Culture

(REPEAT) Matt Armitage and Zan Azlee join Kam Raslan to talk about British India curry, five star ratings and children's sports day.

2:00 PM

Ringgit & Sense

(REPEAT) Felix Neoh, Director of Financial Planning at Finwealth Management answers listeners questions about credit cards.

2:30 PM

The Property Show

(REPEAT) Recap of Property Show on Pest Management episodes in 2025.

3:00 PM

Best of The Bigger Picture

(REPEAT) We speak to feminist ethnographer Maria do Mar Pereira about some myths surrounding feminism, what the movement truly stands for, and whether it can benefit men, as well.

4:00 PM

Best of Evening Edition

(REPEAT) How do you deal with (and survive) family conflict during the holidays? A counsellor shares tips to defuse and de-escalate tense situations.

5:00 PM

BBC World Service

Dr. Sonia Gandhi, a renowned scientist working on slowing down the effects of Parkinson disease, shares her journey so far with Professor Jim Al-Khalili on The Life Scientific.

PROGRAMMES