Family planning programs miss the mark
“Have one more child, your family will be complete.” This clichéd statement is frequently used by relatives and acquaintances to pressurize couples into producing more kids. Yet what the society fails to realize is that given limited resources, with each new bundle of joy, the overall wellbeing of the family unit irreversibly diminishes.
Despite the Population Welfare Department receiving billions of rupees annually since the past 22 years, population control remains a challenge in the country’s most populous province. Even after the dissemination of information on family planning through various mediums including seminars in educational institutions, print, radio and electronic media alongside cash incentives for couples agreeing to partake in contraceptive programs, the population of the province has only observed an upward trend.
According to available records, the population of the province has increased by 16 per cent over the past six years, reaching 127.688 million by 2023. Conversely, there are 2,200 odd centres of the Population Welfare Department in urban and rural areas of Punjab, where only 5 to 7 couples visit for family planning consultation on a daily basis.
“The increase in the population of Punjab is proof that the population control program is ineffective since there is no awareness in the community about the department’s initiatives. At present, having more children is still considered a matter of pride, something which must be discouraged. The department should study the policies of other successful countries, including China and India, to introduce innovation in its efforts,” opined Mumtaz Anwar Chaudhry, Dean of the Faculty of Business, Economics and Administrative Sciences at the University of Punjab, who went on to add that the high population growth rate is also a cause of resource depletion.
On a similar note, Naveed Akbar Hotiana, Professor of Paediatrics at the Fatima Jinnah Medical University and Ganga Ram Hospital, believed that effective awareness was needed at the government level to prevent the birth rate from increasing further. “Even though a desk is set up in some hospitals to give postpartum contraceptive guidance to new mothers, the initiative has been inconsistent. Providing awareness to women about family planning soon after delivery can lead to a significant reduction in the birth rate,” urged Hotiana.
Seconding Hotiana, Sadia Usman, a gynaecologist at the Fatima Memorial Hospital, felt that it was extremely important to educate women about the importance of birth spacing. “Unfortunately, couples often have a desire to have a son, which leads them to keep having more and more children,” said Usman.
“The government needs to educate married couples about population control before marriage so that they can limit their families with effective family planning. They need to be convinced that healthy mothers and healthy children are beneficial for a healthy society,” urged Amna Malik, a social activist and head of a local NGO.
Commenting on the matter, the Director of the Population Welfare Department claimed that family health clinics were established at all population welfare centres across the province. “These clinics provide information to couples regarding various contraceptive methods including condoms, injections, pills and tubal ligation. We are also considering a proposal to incentivize birth spacing by offering cash handouts to low-income couples for using contraceptives through the Benazir Income Support Program. We have also introduced one to three-month long courses for women on contraception,” said the official.