Pakistan implemented its family planning programme in the early 60s.
KARACHI: Despite the huge difference in size, Pakistan and India are almost at the same level of family planning, observed experts on Tuesday.
The executive director of the Population Foundation of India, Poonam Muttreja, suggested that the two countries should share their experiences to achieve common goals, such as improving family planning and health. “Both India and Pakistan must learn from China,” she added.
Muttreja was speaking at a seminar on family planning and reproductive health at Aga Khan University (AKU), where experts from across the world advised the governments to draw policies, involved the private sector and community workers to achieve targets. They felt that a lot could be learned from the experiences of other countries in the region.
During the seminar, there was special focus on provincial targets. “After the 18th Amendment the situation became worse,” said Dr Mehtab S. Karim, a research fellow and professor at George Mason University, USA. “Family planning and population have never been of concern to political leaders and that has led us to this situation.”
Pakistan is a signatory to the International Conference on Population Development (ICPD) of 1994 when 179 UN member states’ governments agreed to reduce maternal mortality by one half of the 1990 levels by the year 2000 and a further one half by 2015.
“Despite being a signatory to the ICPD programme of action, Pakistan’s progress has been slow,” pointed out Dr Sarah Saleem, AKU community health sciences’ population and reproductive health in-charge. “The same stagnation has also been observed in the country’s population welfare programme as well.”
Even though Pakistan implemented its family planning programme in the early 60s, it has not been very successful in increasing the use of contraceptives. She felt that other countries in the region, such as Nepal, Indonesia and Bangladesh, have made decent progress.
During the case-studies part of the seminar, Dr Giri Sharma Paudel from Nepal’s health ministry told the audience about their policies, such as delaying marriages and pregnancies till the age of 20, awareness programmes, and ensuring people have access to contraceptives.
Nepal, which received an international award on family planning, reduction of maternal and child mortality, also introduced two chapters on family planning and maternal health in its school curriculum, even though some political groups opposed the move, said Dr Paudel.
Meanwhile, Indonesia improved its family planning through a shift of powers and administration, said Prof. Siswanto Agus Wilopo, Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta’s department of public health chairperson. Strong political commitment, setting up straight policies and their implementation led to a decline in child and maternal mortality, he said.
Published in The Express Tribune, February 13th, 2013.
COMMENTS (19)
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ET pls. allow - am responding to question directly addressed to me @Observer: SOrry I had not seen your question until now. It appears that @rehmat did provide you data. But your broad concern about the quality of this data is not wrong. UNICEF, WHO etc. rely on micro level data from each country's government and the data inherently may be wrong depending on country's data collection methods. I do not know anything about Bangladesh's census and am going by what is reported in press. I do know that Pakistan has not conducted any census since 1998 but yet do not have any better source than reported TFR when comparing India and Pakistan. What else can one use for primary data?
@Observer: Here you go Unicef data which should hopefully be credible. Bangladesh TFR is 2.2 You can also look at how dramatically crude birth rate has fallen and also what their IMR (Infant Mortality Rate) is. http://www.unicef.org/infobycountry/bangladeshbangladeshstatistics.html
Hope this helps.
please dont give example of china if pakistan wants to follow china then they are free to do so.China's one child policy is against divine will and against nature since every baby has got the right to come to earth,we human being doesn't have the right to decide who come to earth and who not.India is a land of many gods and stopping any child from taking birth is against its civilization so India cannot just do it. those who say population is a big population the same population is a strength as well.You cannot reject any one either cuz thats is a universal truth and as far as china is concerned yes china's one child policy is the result of its growth now but this same policy will prove hunter a year ahead and about India's growth years ahead read various articles it is bright.
@gp65.:
I don't really know much about Bangladesh's success in population control. Is there a reliable link that talks about Bangladesh's experience in the matter? How reliable are BD's population numbers? Do they conduct regular census?
@abdussamad: Well good to know that Pakistani literature was borrowed by Indonesia and succssful there. Perhaps Pakistan can identify and borrow techniques used to persuade Muslims in Bangladesh to opt for contraception? The fact tthat many Muslim countries have had greater success than Pakistan in reducing fertility means that religion is not the barrier, something else is. It would be useful to identify what that 'something else' is and address it, don't you think?
@Naresh: " “Both India and Pakistan must learn from China,” she added.. IOW she has said Learn not “Emulate” "
I agree with @Observer though. The source of China's success IS the one child policy which is ruthlessly enforced. This is not what we need to learn. We need to learn from the success of countries who are democratic and are in a similar socioeconomic parameters. For this reason I indicated that Bangladesh would be a good role model since their fertility rate was much higher than India and now it is much lower. The fact that they are a Muslim majority country also should provide lessons for us since in India the TFR for Muslims is much higher than rest of India, hence it would be useful to learn how the Indian Muslims can be persuaded in their own enlightened self interest to have smaller families.since Bangladesh has obviousl managed to do so.
@Author : . My last two lines should read in my previous post (Second from Top) : . As such, Esteemed Author Ji, the statement Pakistan and India are almost at the same level of family planning, is outrageous as well as untenable. . @ Observer : Ms. Poonam Muttreja is a "Lady" and not a he! In additon please consider the statement “Both India and Pakistan must learn from China,” she added.. IOW she has said Learn not "Emulate" . Cheers
we only need to follow our religious leaders and produce as many children as possible. The catholics and hindus are multiplying and have surrounded us. Do not listen to them or UN or WHO or World Bank, as they all are out to morally corrupt our race and promote the messages that suit their interests. See what they did during second May last year after corrupting our doctor who did spying for money. The strength of our country lies in numbers so let us prosper at least in numbers. :))).
@gp65: The examples of Indonesia and Bangladesh are already given in the article above. I didn't need you to cite more irrelevant examples. Pakistan is not like other countries and just because something has worked elsewhere does not mean it will work here. For instance, are you aware that the Indonesians cite Pakistani origin family planning literature as one of the reasons for their success?! Yet that same literature proves ineffective in its country of origin!
@abdussamad: "Using contraceptives is like murdering a child according to religious scholars. So I don’t think family planning will ever succeed in this country."
There have been dramatic reductions in fertility in Muslim majority countries in Middle east led mainly by government sponsored contraception initiatives. So clearly where there is a will there is a way.http://www.mercatornet.com/demography/view/4958
I would say there is a big difference. We don't bury our babies because they are girls.
This so-called expert Poonam Muttreja must be fired immediately by the Indian organization for making uninformed and wrong statements. First, he doesn't seem to know that China's fascist ruling coterie imposed a one-child policy and enforced it with iron hand.
As for comparing India with Pakistan, family planning campaign started in the 1950's in India and has been a big success. As a result, even the poorest and illiterate villager is knowledgeable about birth control techniques and have access to birth-control devices. India's birth has declined deeply to 20.6 per 1000 population. Except for Catholics and Muslims no other Indian has any religious objection to artificial birth-control.
In contrast, Pakistan's "official" birth-rate is 24.3 per 1000. Since Pakistan hasn't conducted a census in many decades, this number is very suspect. Formulating and enforcing birth-control in Pakistan is very difficult because as an Islamic country as most Muslims believe Islam prohibits artificial birth-control. Muslim families in general have more children compared to followers of other religions.
In INDIA muslim population growth is much higher than others.
They need to understand
Using contraceptives is like murdering a child according to religious scholars. So I don't think family planning will ever succeed in this country.
Ya true....Thanks to muslims....hum 2 hamare 6 aur unke 25....
I am Pakistani in China, Yes it is true, China controlled the birth rates, as people of China understand well First we should educate our people, the benefits of controling the birth rates. And definitely we can solve many social and economic problems
population data is given here under to understand the trend in population.
Population data from UN, except for Pakistan (from Pakistan census) Most Populous Nations: 2000-2011:
Rank Nation 2000 2011 Change % Change 1 China 1,278.0 1,348.0 70.0 5.5% 2 India 1,071.0 1,241.0 170.0 15.9% 5 Pakistan 147.1 197.4 50.2 34.2% 7 Bangladesh 131.9 150.5 18.6 14.1% Pakistan with 34.2% growth during the period is highest in the world even if the population of afghan refugee is excluded . still the population explosion is alarming. Unchecked population growth will eat up the benefits of economic development.
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@Author : Despite the huge difference in size, Pakistan and India are almost at the same level of family planning, observed experts on Tuesday. . This is an outragous statement! . The facts are as follows : . As per the 1951 Census the Indian Population was 361,088,400. At the same time the Pakistani Population was 33,740,167. Thus India’s Population was 10.7 Times that of Pakistan. . As per the 2011 Census the Indian Population was 1,210,193,422. . As per the 2011 Census - Preliminary Results – the Pakistani Population has reached the figure of 197,361,691 in 2011 against 134,714,017 in 1998, . http://www.thenews.com.pk/Todays-News-13-13514-Population-shoots-up-by-47-percent-since-1998 . Population shoots up by 47 percent since 1998 . Thus, in 2011, India’s Population was 6.13 Times Pakistan’s Population. . As such, Esteemed Author Ji, Pakistan and India are almost at the same level of family planning, . Cheers
The title says "Pakistan, India at the same level of family planning"
This is not substantiated by the data in the news post.
The TFR (Total Fertility Rate in Pakistan is 4.1. In India it was 2.5 as per SRS 2010 (A survey of over a million people is conducted each year in India to determine progress on key health metrics).
TFR represents number of kids a couple will have during their lifetime. In order to reach state of zero population growth (ZPG) the TFR has to reach 2.1. Once a country reaches TFR of 2.1 it achieves ZPG with a lag of 20-25 years.
So there is a big difference between India and Pakistan where it comes to family planning.
fyi: TFR for India was 3.2 in 2001 (cmpared to current TFR of 4.1 for Pakistan).
“Both India and Pakistan must learn from China,” she added. BEg to differ. China's success is due to enforcement of one child policy. This as led to even a greater degree of female foeticide i China than India. India needs to reduce female foeticide rather than increase it - which is what following China would result in. The role model in this respect is Bangladesh who had a higher TFR than both India and Pakistan in 1971 and now it is lower than both. Forcible contraception was tried in India during Emergency n 1975-77 and boomeranged badly. Bangladesh achieved its success by focussing on making contraception accessible to every woman who wants it thereby reducing unmet need. Also it focussed on reducing infant mortality rate which also resultsin lower TFR (If parents do not think their kid will die, they will not have an extra kid just as back-up). Thus TFR reduction in Bangladesh was entirely voluntary and this is the role model we should pursue - not China's.