Punjab has highest child mortality rate

Fact sheet links survival of newborns to family planning

LAHORE:

Shortage of food, poor health of mothers and a high population growth rate cause the death of 73 of every 1,000 newborn babies in Punjab before reaching the age of one year, a fact sheet released by an international non-governmental organisation (NGO) has revealed.

According to experts of the Population Council, a large population of Punjab is not following family planning, without which the newborn mortality rate cannot be reduced.

The organisation shared latest figures related to population growth in the country in its last fact sheet of the ongoing year.

The alarming facts include the highest ratio of newborn babies' deaths in the country in Punjab. According to the fact sheet, 62 of every 1,000 babies in the country die before reaching the age of one year.

If the adoption of family planning methods by people in the country increases, the lives of thousands of children can be saved annually, it elaborated.

The fact sheet showed that the current ratio of family planning in the Pakistan is 34 per cent. Raising the percentage to 52 can lead to saving the lives of 140,000 babies each year.

The situation is more critical in Punjab, where the mortality rate of 73 babies out of 1,000 in the first year of their records has been recorded.

The fact sheet shows that the ratio of family planning in the province is 41%. The lives of 73,000 babies can been saved annually if the percentage of family planning is improved to 59%.

Officials of the Population Council cited limited infrastructure of health, illiteracy, not following family planning, hunger, unemployment, wish to give birth to more boys and ignorance among mothers about their health among top reasons of the highest mortality ratio in Punjab.

The mortality rate of babies in the first year of their lives is Sindh is 60 out of 1,000, Kyber-Pakhtunkhwa 53 and Balochistan 48.

The fact sheet showed that the birth rate in Punjab is also the highest among the provinces of the country.

Amidst the increasing population, the country is facing a shortage of food, education, jobs, infrastructure as well as health and mother care.

"If Pakistan wants to progress and compete in the world then its people should create a balance between population and resources.

For this purpose, the government should also formulate policies aimed at effectively curbing the huge increasing in population," said Population Council Senior Director Dr Ali Meer.

He said babies as well as mothers lost their lives due to disregard for family planning.

He said situation might become critical in the coming years because the country could not afford the high rate of population growth.

The organisation's director Ikramul Haq said, "There is dire need that all the departments concerned and government focus to the issue of child mortality amid increasing population."

He stressed the need for awareness among married couples about family planning.

A former medical superintendent of Lady Willingdon Hospital, Dr Sabahat Habib said the highest mortality rate of newborn babies in Punjab was due to illiteracy.

"The physical health of majority of mothers was recorded as poor and the reason is that they are giving birth to more and more babies without catering to their health needs and family planning," she added.

The Population Council Research Manager, Dr Saima Bashir, said the country's population could reach 386 million by 2050 if its growth would not be controlled.

She warned that it would become difficult to cope with the situation if the international standards of family planning were not adopted and said the government should take timely decisions in this regard.