Population Council report on family planning situation launched

Islamabad

There are four million unwanted pregnancies in Pakistan every year, contributing to 2.2 million abortions and poor health outcomes among mothers and children.

The grim findings were shared at the launch of Population Council’s report on the family planning situation in Pakistan.  The report was launched at a high level meeting held on Thursday which was chaired by Provincial Minister for Population Welfare, Government of the Punjab Begum Zakia Shahnawaz Khan and Member National Assembly  and Chairperson Oversight and Coordination Cell for All Public Health and Primary Health Care Programmes, Government of Sindh Dr. Azra Fazal Pechuho. The meeting was attended by senior representatives of government, civil society, and donor agencies.

Sharing the key findings of the report, Country Director, Population Council Dr. Zeba Sathar said an estimated 9 million potential users cannot use family planning due to gaps in communication, information, and service provision. She emphasised that better quality services are necessary to manage side effects, which compel many users to give up family planning prematurely.

Dr. Azra Pacheho said the report had highlighted important issues such as contraceptive stock-outs at health facilities and the need to use modern technology to help improve accountability. She said the Government of Sindh is already working on several new fronts to improve access to family planning. She supported the report’s recommendation to rapidly expand available channels of service delivery through task shifting and sharing, including through mid-level, male, and traditional providers, as well as pharmacists.

MPA Shaukat Ali Yousafzai said that a population census was long overdue and necessary to base plans on the latest information. He called for better integration of health programming in the public sector, and said the capacity of the Population Welfare Department is too limited to meet the family planning needs of the entire population. The minister also emphasized the need to focus on rural areas, where the need is greatest.

Begum Zakia Shahnawaz shared that Punjab is making steady progress in improving access to family planning, but it needs to be accelerated through more effective approaches, human and institutional capacity building, and greater motivation at the implementation level. She said programming efforts should intensify now that religious scholars were ready to support birth spacing. The minister further suggested that provinces periodically exchange ideas and experiences so as to learn and improve together.

In her remarks, Shahnaz Wazir Ali said the report had confirmed and deepened understanding on many relevant aspects, while also exploding the myth that youth and the religious community cannot be taken on board in family planning efforts.

Dr. Wyn Bubnash said the Gates Foundation looks forward to continued support to family planning in Pakistan, with a special interest in improving contraceptive supply and increasing private service provision.