|
The Penang Family
Planning Association (FPA) was
registered on 16 January 1962 . The
first annual general meeting was
held on 27 February 1962 in its
temporary office at Bishop Street
which later moved to Beach Street.
The first permanent clinic started
operation in May 1966 at 16/18
Kampong Kolam (KK).
The then Mayor of Georgetown, the
Honourable Mr Ooi Thiam Siew (who
was also the FPA President)
officiated the opening on 14 October
1966. The office was then
transferred to Kampong Kolam which
remains as FPA’s main clinic. In
1998, the office moved from 57
Macalister Road to Jalan Perak.
The association set up a network of
mobile clinics at the Municipal
Council government clinic premises
to provide much-needed family
planning information and clinic
services. These clinics were manned
by motivational field workers both
on the island as well as the
mainland (Butterworth, Kepala Batas
and Bukit Mertajam).
In 1966, the federal government
adopted a family planning policy for
the country and the National Family
Planning Board (LPPKN) was formed.
The association and the board
cooperated to complement each other
– the former concentrated mostly on
urban areas. Due to this
co-existence, many people mistake
the association as part of the
board. However, LPPKN discontinued
urban family planning services in
1994 as part of its service
integration with the Ministry of
Health.
By now, our services included:
pregnancy tests, early detection of
cancers via pap smears and breast
examination,
infertility/sub-fertility
counselling, marital counselling,
hormone replacement therapy, minor
gynaecological treatment, medical
camps and reproductive health advice
to youths.
Information, education and
communication (IEC) activities have
been an important aspect of the
association’s activities as requests
for information and education are
much in demand.
Among some of the activities are:
talks, video shows, exhibitions,
planned parenthood courses,
industrial nurses’ update, male
responsibility programmes, community
development programmes, ante-natal
programmes, satisfied acceptors
courses and sexual and reproductive
health information at an unwed
mothers’ shelter. We also run family
counselling workshops for recovering
drug-users and their families under
programmes by the National Anti-Drug
Agency.
In the 1980s, the Federation of
Family Planning Associations,
Malaysia (FFPAM) started a pilot
project to get women involved in
raising women’s status. The task
force which comprised NGOs like FPA,
Young Women’s Christian Association
(YWCA) and the Women’s Lawyers
Federation held meetings at our KK
clinic. Their idea of forming a
crisis centre for women became a
reality when the Women’s Crisis
Centre (now Women’s Centre for
Change) was inaugurated to serve the
needs of rape and battered women
survivors.
FPA formed its own Women’s
Development Project (WDP) committee
from 1984 to 1993. In 2002, it was
revived by some enthusiastic members
who went on to form the MAY (Me and
You) Support Group (MSG).The MSG
provides moral and emotional support
for people living with HIV and AIDS
and their families. In 2007, due to
the increase in number of our MSG
clients, the MAY Care drop-in Centre
started operations with donation
from Community Works and the Penang
State government.
Since 1989, the association has
concentrated on HIV and AIDS work
and from 1994, youth camps with HIV
and AIDS components were funded by
the then State Women’s Consultative
Council (HAWA) with occasional
assistance by the Malaysian AIDS
Council (MAC). In 1999, FPA together
with Community AIDS Service Penang
co-organised the Red Ribbon
Carnival, the national level
commemoration of World AIDS Day for
MAC. Volunteers also presented
papers at the 5th International
Congress on AIDS in Asia Pacific and
youths have attended the
International AIDS Conference’s in
Durban (2000) and Mexico (2008).
Another innovative project is BATS
(Bringing Awareness of Sexual
Reproductive Health to Sex Workers).
The scope of the services and
activities of the association went
beyond family planning. In 2007, FPA
officially changed its name to the
Penang Family Health Development
Association (Persatuan Perkembangan
Kesihatan Keluarga, Pulau Pinang).
The success of any organisation
depends on adequate human and
financial resources. We are very
grateful that there are many donors
who believe in us and have been
giving us the necessary funds to
enable us to run our community
services. Appreciation also goes to
all the dedicated and committed
doctors, volunteers and staff to
keep the machinery going. |
