960413

Govt aims to cut down

population growth

rate to 2.6 pc: Salik

RECORDER REPORT

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Population Planning, Julius Salik has said that Pakistan's population has reached the figure of 134 million with the population growth rate brought down to 2.8 percent per annaum and it is proposed to bring it down to 2.6 percent by the end of June 1998.

He was inaugurating the three day GOP/ECO/UNFPA conference here on Saturday. The conference is being attended by all the ECO countries except Afghanistan with some 90 delegates besides the representatives of various NGOs and other organisations concerned with the population welfare. The conference has before it the main subject of healthy reproductive health care system.

He said Pakistan recognised the implications of high population growth rate about a decade of its existence and embarked upon a comprehensive population programme during the mid fifties. However, the programme was not pushed in a sustained manner with the result that now we have a population of 134 million.

He said, besides creating awareness among the people about population growth hazards, the government has taken a number of measures including the use of contraceptives which would be increased to target of 24.4 percent by the end of the current five year plan as against the existing rate of 18 percent.

He hoped that a new and more congenial balance leading to harmonious development for all our people would be achieved as a result of the recommendations of the conference.

Secretary Ministry of Population Welfare, Muzaffar Mahmood Qureshi in his address of welcome, pointed out that the total developmental expenditure of Pakistan from 1960 to 1995 is Rs 1403 billion but only Rs 127 billion or 9 percent of the total has been spent on education.

The opening of schools, training of teachers end increase in enrolment has been a major gain but these increases have been swept away by the rising tide of increasing population.

Talking about the reproductive health centres, he said that considerable improvement has been achieved and their number has increaed from 34 in 1989 to 80. Twelve RHS centres located in medical colleges have been designated as RHS training centres and these are being upgraded to bring services and training capabilities upto the international standard.

The Executive Director of the UN Population Fund Dr Nafis Sadik said the action programme on reproductive health will enable everyone to exercise their reproductive rights including the right to determine the number and spacing of their children.

Talking about Pakistan, she said, it has underraken actions to start implementing the reproductive health programme.

With a view to gradually integrating family planning into a broader reproductive health framework, the government's programme of family planning and primary health care has begun to extend these services to the rural and peri-urban areas through a network of lady health workers.

Complementing these efforts are the NGOs' activities for the implementation of the ICPD recommendations.

Later addressing a press conference, Dr Nafis Sadik said that the Family Planning Programme is almost non-existe in the Central Asian Republic and they mostly rely on abortion.

Answering a question, she said that the role of private sector would greatly help in successfully implementing the reproductive health care system and the NGOs can play their role in mobilising the private sector to fully particpate in this programme.

Responding to another question she said that a conference should also be held in Pakistan to create awareness among the males about their responsibilities to the reproductive health care programme. She said the religious leaders have also to play a role as their own families are also involved. She said they have many pronouncements from great scholars of Egypt, Iran and Syria about the family planning as envisaged in Islam.

Replying to another question, she said that she was not aware why Afgahnistan has not attended the conference although the Pakistan government did extend an invitation. She said, Afghanistan certainly needs such a programme, which is essentially an individual and community programme.