Punjab maternal deaths spike

Health experts stress family planning to save lives

LAHORE:

Punjab accounts for 5,200 of about 11,000 deaths of pregnant women recorded in the country annually.

According to a fact sheet issued by Ann NGO, the Population Council, about 3,000 women pass away in Sindh during pregnancy, 1,900 in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and 400 in Balochistan in a year on average.

The fact sheet issued on the World Population Day revealed that the fatality rate of pregnant women in South Asia was increasing, while Punjab was facing an alarming situation with the highest rate in the country.

The relevant departments, universities and non-govermment organisations organised workshops, walks and other programmes to raise the issue of population and the threats faced by the country because of increase in it. The day this year focused on giving importance to girls along with women.

The theme of the World Population Day was the 'Unleashing the power of gender equality: Uplifting the voices of women and girls to unlock our world's infinite possibilities'.

According to experts, along with being among the most populated of the world, Pakistan is one of the countries where females are deprived of basic health rights.

They term the most serious issue is the risk to the lives of pregnant women because of an increasing burden on the government hospitals.

If the people starting following family planning,  as many as 2,300 women's lives annually can be saved in Punjab, they asserted.

"The basic reason of the high mortality rate among pregnant women is not following family planning, which in turn is mostly a result of illiteracy," stated Population Council Project Director Umme Kalsoom. She pointed out that 37 per cent girls in the country were out of school, of whom the majority belonged to Punjab.

A senior expert in the organisation, Ikramul Ahad, said the ratio of deaths of females during pregnancy was alarming and there was need for an awareness campaign at the government level to inform local females about their health and family planning.

"This important issue of deaths during childbirth has become a challenge for our government and on the occasion of World Population Day we demand that the departments concerned play their role to save the lives of thousands of females," he added.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, a senior doctor, Dr Sabahat Habib, said the women should follow family planning methods if they want to spend a healthy life.

"We live in a society where usually a male take the decisions regarding the family. I request all males to also keep in mind the health of female members of their families," she said.

She said most deaths of pregnant women in the hospitals were attributed to lack of family planning or marriage of young girls.

Ansa Butt, a human rights activists and CEO of Kiran Foundation said the deaths during childbirth is serious issue and needs to be addressed by all stakeholders. She said the departments concerned should convince people to adopt family planning.

“The situation is also changed recently and a estimate showed that around 100,000 women have registered for the family planning in the Punjab,” she remarked.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 15^th, 2023.