Reproductive health: ‘Child marriage one of chief causes of maternal deaths’

Plan International organises consultation meeting in collaboration with UKAid

LAHORE:

“The maternal mortality rate increased from 76 in 10,000 in 2007 to 77 in 2013 according to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey for the years,” Rahnuma-Family Planning Association of Pakistan (FPAP) Regional Director Syed Sarfaraz Kazmi said on Thursday.

He was speaking at a consultancy meeting organised by Plan International in collaboration with UKAid to enable civil society organisations to formulate a comprehensive strategy to address the issue of reproductive health awareness and service delivery among youngsters. Kazmi said child marriage was one of the chief causes of maternal deaths. He briefed those present on the occasion regarding the importance of increasing awareness regarding reproductive health among girls in light of the recent amendments to the Child Marriage Restraint Act.

Plan International project coordinator Iftikhar Mubarik hailed the government’s formulation of a comprehensive youth policy that aims to create awareness regarding high-risk sexual behaviours that place people at risk of contracting HIV/AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases. The policy also aims to increase the availability of integrated sexual and reproductive health information and services for adolescents and youngsters. He said the same commitments had been earlier made in the Adolescent Strategy and Strategic Action Plan 2013-2017 devised to establish youth-friendly reproductive and sexual health services in the province. Mubarik said the effective implementation of these commitments required political will and attention.

Irfan Ahmed, a health expert associated with Plan International, said ignorance among the youth regarding reproductive health had caused the spread of HIV/AIDS, reproductive tract infections and hepatitis. He said this had also caused infant and maternal mortality rate to rise. Ahmed stressed the importance of providing youth-friendly services to encourage youngsters to discuss problems and queries in a pleasant environment. He said this would prevent them from approaching quacks and being influenced by inauthentic material available on the internet on this account. Ahmed said parents could also play a pivotal role in this regard and stressed the need the importance of fostering an open atmosphere at homes.

Strengthening Participatory Organisation (SPO) regional director Salman Abid said civil society could not foster mass change. He said it could only create models for the government to implement. Abid pointed out that no move had been made to establish the Directorate of the Punjab Youth Commission despite provisions for it in the youth policy. He said the issues under discussion were sensitive and addressing them was a challenge.

Representatives of various organisations present on the occasion agreed on the importance of focusing on issues and commitments made by the government in the 2012 Youth Policy. It was decided that the organisations would set up a provincial core group on sexual and reproductive health headed by Plan International. The group will focus on lobbying the government to provide youth friendly health services and life-skill based education to youngsters. The need for engaging religious organisations regarding the issues was also discussed on the occasion. “We need to understand their point of view instead of seeing them as being averse to the subject,” Mubarik said.

Representatives of Madadgar, Pakistan Girl Guides Association, Bedari, Action Aid, World Vision International, Faces Pakistan, Chanan Development Association, Group Development, Aurat Foundation, Potohar Organisation for Development Advocacy and Women in Struggle for Empowerment were also present at the meeting.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 3^rd, 2015.