More than 5,200 maternal deaths occur annually in Punjab due to lack of family planning with the majority recorded in villages where women are not aware about their health and nutrition, a report of the Population Council has warned.
Neglect of family planning also results in increasing the infant mortality rate, the report stated, pointing out that 73 infants die in Punjab per 1000 live births before reaching the age of a year.
The report warned that the population of Punjab is increasing rapidly and is currently 127.7 million, by the year 2050 it was projected to reach 253 million.
The organisation urged the government to announce a policy to bring under control the population growth in the country.
According to the report, the past policies have failed to help curb maternal deaths in the province.
The quarterly report revealed that more the basic reason for the dire situation is ill planning in connection with family planning.
The report suggested that if the use of contraceptives rises from the current 41 per cent to 59 per cent then the lives of 2,300 can be saved each year in Punjab.
Among the more than 11,000 maternal deaths taking place annually in the country, Punjab accounts for over 5,200. The maternal death toll is highest in Punjab, with 1,900 deaths recorded in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, 3,000 in Sindh and 1,000 in Balochistan.
The reports termed the deaths of 73 infants per 1,000 live births in the province the highest and blamed lack of family planning.
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The Population Council experts described several reasons of the maternal deaths in Punjab, citing as the top one negligence on the part of governments to take steps to control the population growth, followed by lack of family planning by couples.
“The high maternal death toll in Punjab and the country is alarming and it is sad that our females are losing their lives due to not following family planning methods. The past governments neglected this factor and today the rapid growth of the population is the top threat to the country. A rapid growth in the population means ever increasing demand for food, schools, health facilities, jobs, infrastructure and rising pressure on the government to keep pace in providing these services to the public.
Today the whole world is watching us grapple with the population growth and the problems caused by it. Our hope is with the new government and we request the new prime minister to announce a policy in this regard in his first speech as this is a big challenge at the moment,” said Samiya Ali Shah, Director of the Population Council.
“This is a very serious issue that infants’ death ratio is hight in Punjab and the reason is no doubt uncontrolled population growth. All newly elected CMs and the PM should take seriously this matter and announce their policy on a priority,” said Dr Ali Mir, Senior Director of Programmes of the organisation.
He said it was a fact that the mother and child mortality rate was high in Punjab because of ignorance among couples regarding family planning.
“ Females are not aware of the methods of family planning and this issue is serious in the village areas of Punjab. The wish for more children and especially wish for sons forces the females to give birth to more children and they do not care about their health and food and this factor is serious. Majority of deaths occured among illiterate females as they never followed family planning and there is a need that government should form a strategy to give awareness at villages level regarding family planning,” said Dr Sabahat Habib, former MS of the Lady Wallingdon Hospital Lahore.
Published in The Express Tribune, March 4th, 2024.
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