Effective population control campaign possible in peace

PESHAWAR, March 31: Speakers at a workshop on Thursday suggested that the government should involve religious leaders, media persons, traders and civil society activists to control population growth by creating awareness of the best practices in family planning and reproductive health in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa. Departments of health and population welfare had organised the two-day workshop, which was attended by senior health and population welfare officers from all the districts of the province and representatives of international donor agencies. The participants said that peace was a must for launching work for overcoming the fast spreading population. They said that work for creation of awareness among the communities could be expedited with the help of ulema, students, media persons, traders, transporters and civil society organisations. The participants belonging to far-flung districts also demanded facilities, including contraceptives, at the healthcare centres and hiring services of people for social mobilisation. Health Department director-general Dr Noor Nawaz was the chief guest on the occasion while Dr Tauseef Ahmed and Dr Shabeena Raza were the key speakers. "Pakistan ranks as the 6th most populous country in the world with a population exceeding 180.8 million. With the current population growth rate of 2.11, Pakistan will be the third most populous country by year 2050," they said. They said that the women and children in Pakistan were the most vulnerable section of the community and their appalling health conditions demanded serious deliberations to secure human development. Referring to the latest demographic survey of 2006-07, they said that Total Fertility Rate (TFR) of Pakistan was 4.1 whereby the unwanted fertility rate accounted for having one added child per woman on average beyond their planned family size over their reproductive lives. They said that the unmet needs for family planning in Pakistan remained high at 25 per cent. The officials said that major hurdles that accounted for such a heavy load of unmet needs in the country included lack of awareness, religious and cultural practices, societal pressures and opportunities to access family planning services. They said that according to a research the close-spaced pregnancies were among the major non-clinical factors that contributed to maternal deaths and put the newborns at a higher risk of health consequences. They said that in the current situation there was a need for implementing plans for extended family planning and reproductive health services. They said that in Pakistan 25-40 per cent of maternal deaths could be eliminated if unplanned pregnancies were prevented. They said that infant mortality decreased tremendously with the increase in mother`s age and birth spacing.