Pitfalls of family planning efforts highlighted

Pakistan is already the sixth most populous country of the world and its population is expected to reach 310 million by 2050, if the birth rate continues to increase at the current dangerous pace compared to an imbalance in the rate of increase in resources.

This was observed by senior public health expert, Dr Agha Xaher Gul, on Sunday while encouraging the youth to plan families beforehand at a seminar titled ‘Healthy Youth Healthy Future’, organised by the Dadabhoy Institute of Higher Education’s (DIHE) faculty of science.

Family planning is must for Pakistan, especially in rural areas, Dr Gul said. He said the women had a pivotal role in planning families.

Citing Iran’s family planning programme, he said the initiative was taken in the 1990’s as compared to ours which started in the 1950’s, he said. “But Iran’s programme today turns out to be way ahead of ours in performance,” the health expert added revealed.

 “Talking about sex is humorous but its consequences anything but; they are dangerous. Our youth must start thinking from on how many kids they want to have,” he said. According to Dr Gul religious barriers in family planning have to a great extent been done away with.

Unsafe abortions

Dr Gul disclosed that an alarming 48 percent of pregnancies occurring in the country are unintended, and out of this 48 percent, 54 percent pregnancies are aborted.

Quoting his research, he further revealed that at least 2.2 million abortions take place in Pakistan annually. “Around 50 women out of every 1,000 have had an abortion at least once in their lifetime which also includes married women,” he said.

As per the public health expert, this trend has lead to highly unsafe abortion methods carrying with them dangerous health consequences for the mothers including deaths.

Discussing the attitude of family planning experts, the health expert with grief informed the audience that even female family planning consultants and doctors discouraged women coming to them for help to not opt for family planning.

“They even shame pregnant women who are unmarried instead of treating them which is inhumane and exposes our prejudices based on which we judge people instead of focusing on our own self,” Dr Gul stated.

Discussing the current health conditions of children in Pakistan, Dr Gul informed that 44 percent of the children less than five years of age are stunted. “This figure depicts where our health standards are heading and the picture isn't good,” he added.

According to him, stunted growth leads to mental complications in a child especially lower IQs. “Around 10 million children under the age of five suffer from chronic hunger in Pakistan,” he added.

“Couples don’t discuss how many kids they want to have and end up suffering when it’s too late,” the health expert stated. Majority of our population belongs to lower income group and it’s difficult for them to afford the expenses of four to five children, Dr Gul said.