Sex Ed About to Start in Malaysian Schools

Somewhat unexpectedly for a Muslim-majority country, Malaysia has announced that next year it will start teaching sec education classes throughout the country. This has been brought about by an increase in out of wedlock teenage pregnancies, leading to babies being abandoned by their mothers.

Giving birth out of wedlock carries a strong social stigma in Malaysia, a multicultural society embracing Muslim Malays as well as ethnic Chinese and Indian communities.

In 2009 there were 79 cases of baby-dumping but as of mid-September this year there had already been about 70, sparking alarm among authorities and in the community.

In May, the nation's first "baby hatch" centre for rescuing unwanted newborns was introduced in the capital, Kuala Lumpur. The centre, modelled on similar services in Germany, Japan and Pakistan, allows mothers to leave their babies anonymously.

Today is World Pneumonia Day

Few people think about pneumonia any more--unless of course you or someone you know gets it and then it scares you to death. And that's the point, of course. Pneumonia is still out there killing a lot of people, which is why the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and many other groups try to publicize it with its own day.

Pneumonia remains the number one killer of children under 5 worldwide, claiming more than 1.5 million young lives each year – more than HIV/AIDS, malaria, and measles combined. Yet this illness is preventable; by increasing access to simple, inexpensive tools such as antibiotics and vaccines, we can help save the lives of more than 1 million children a year.

Stark Contrasts in Gender Equity

Out of Spain this week comes news that the government may change the pattern of naming children, which has historically listed the father's name first, followed by the mother's name, but with the caveat that the father's name was "more important."

Spaniards have two surnames, and under current law for registering babies, either the father's or the mother's can come first. Traditionally, however, it is the dad's and in cases of disagreement among the parents, the father's name automatically takes priority.

But under a bill presented to Parliament, if a couple does not specify an order or cannot agree on one, a child's last names would be assigned in alphabetical order.

"I think this is good and also much more egalitarian," Jose Antonio Alonso, a Socialist Party spokesman in the lower chamber of Parliament, said Thursday.

To the east, in Afghanistan, however, life for women continues to be vastly unequal to men, and some women see attempting suicide by burning themselves as the only way out.

Even the poorest families in Afghanistan have matches and cooking fuel. The combination usually sustains life. But it also can be the makings of a horrifying escape: from poverty, from forced marriages, from the abuse and despondency that can be the fate of Afghan women.