Minister for 3-year gap between births

LAHORE:Dr Jamal Nasir said that three years' interval between two child births could ensure health and safety of both the mother and the child. The main reason for poor health of women had been under-nourishment and Anaemia. He said this while addressing a seminar on population welfare on Tuesday.

Punjab Minister for Population Welfare Dr Jamal Nasir revealed that a policy was being formulated to allow only those employees to work in the Population Welfare Department who didn't have more than three children.

The minister informed that the caretaker government has promoted about 45,000 lady health workers in the province as part of its efforts for improving mother and child healthcare and promoting population welfare.

The minister revealed that as many as 43,000 lady health visitors had been upgraded from grade 5 to 8 while 1,700 lady health supervisors had been promoted from grade 8 to 11. He added that graduate lady health supervisors had been elevated to grade 14 in view of the importance of their service.

Dr Jamal observed that the staff of the Population Welfare Department should be an example for others with regard to keeping their families small. The minister said that the issues of population control as well as environmental protection had never been taken seriously in Pakistan although these should have been on priority agenda for sustainable development of the country. Dr Jamal Nasir said that CM Mohsin Naqvi has expressed his confidence in him by giving the portfolio of Population Welfare department. He said that Iran and Bangladesh had been role models for us with regard to family planning.