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Ulema's help sought in controlling population growth
Monday, April 13, 2009
By: The Nation (Pakistan)
Pakistan is suffering from stagnant Family Planning programme, as 7 percent of men and women in the reproductive age in Pakistan does not have access to Family Planning products
ISLAMABAD -- Despite being one of the vanguard Asian countries in family planning, Pakistan witnessed four times increase in population because of lesser commitment with the issue on the part of religious scholars and politicians.
While keeping in view the increasing population growth, the ministry is considering to take religious scholars and politicians onboard for bringing down the increasing population growth revealed Dr Firdous Ashiq Awan Minister for Population Welfare while speaking at the one day National South-South Support Structure Workshop here on Monday.
She said religious scholars have long been assisting the Ministry in its various programmes aimed at grabbing population explosion, but political leaders have never demonstrated a strong commitment with the issue.
A national conference on population issues would take place in Islamabad in which prominent religious scholars across the country would be invited to support family planning with accordance to Islamic philosophy she continued.
She was of the views that for bringing down the population growth rate a sustainable and consistence approach has to be adopted. Ministry has planned to establish as many as 300 multipurpose centres countrywide for providing family planning and reproductive health facilities she added.
She urged for developing different line of strategy for developing countries to control population explosion. She strongly advocated for developing a linkage between reproductive health and family planning, as it would help controlling population growth rate.
While speaking on the occasion Executive Director of Partner in Population and Development Harris S. Jooseery said that Pakistan in many areas remains off the track to achieve MDGs agenda.
He said with present population growth rate Pakistan is expected to take fifth place in 2050 with 292 million people after India, China, the United States, and Indonesia.
Pakistan is suffering from stagnant Family Planning programme, as 7 percent of men and women in the reproductive age in Pakistan does not have access to Family Planning products he continued.
Harris S. Jooseery opined that weak logistic systems and lack of contraceptives methods at service points as well as dearth of skilled health workforce to provide quality services to the clients have plagued delivery of family planning services. Pakistan is facing broad challenges to improving womens reproductive health. The country falls in the high-risk category for womens health as every year 15000-women die from complication of pregnancy and childbirth he said, adding that Half a million children die before age of five and 160,000 in their first month.
He urged for repositioning of family planning into the development agenda, as its integration would generate more concert and positive result. In the contest of promoting South-South Cooperation, Reproductive Health and HIV/AIDS programmes in Pakistan, he reaffirmed PPDs commitment to facilitate Pakistan and to provide technical assistance. He proposed for establishing a National Task Force in Pakistan to galvanise efforts to promoted South-South Cooperation, with the involvement of respective stakeholders.
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