Alarmingly high pregnancy rate of 59pc in Thar

SUKKUR: The teenage pregnancy rate has been recorded alarmingly high at 59 percent in Tharparkar district, it was revealed during an MoU signing ceremony aimed at improving family planning services in the area.

The MoU was signed between the Sindh Population Welfare Department and Thar Foundation, in which the population welfare dept would provide technical and logistic support to the partner to provide efficient family planning services in Tharparkar, while the Indus Hospital would implement the program on behalf of the Thar Foundation. It said the signing parties would jointly collaborate in improving the family planning network at various hospitals of the district and setting up the Thar Foundation’s mobile facilities to extend the accessibility, while to increase the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (PCR) in the target areas, awareness of family planning would be planned to bring married women of reproductive age into the ambit of family planning network.

The MoU said the PWD would also provide training and expertise in family planning techniques, certify medics and paramedics for the service and would ensure a continuous supply of contraceptive medicines. DG PWD Rehan Baloch briefed the audience that use of the method of family planning in district Tharparkar is just 6.6 percent, whereas unmet family planning need is recorded at 44 percent, while quoting the Census of 2017 and MICS 2018, the total fertility rate for the district is 4.6 per woman. Sindh Minister for Health Dr Azra Fazal Peechoho, Minister for Energy, Imtiaz Sheikh and MPA Qasim Soomro were also present on the occasion. Meanwhile, Dr Azra Fazal said that the extended services will eventually help in improving mother and child health in district Tharparkar, whereas smaller family sizes would ultimately help to address the poverty issues and reduce infant and mother mortality.