25 January 2004	Sunday	02 Zilhaj 1424

KARACHI, Jan 24: Speakers at a symposium on Saturday said if the country's population growth, the highest in the region, remained unchecked, soon it would have drastic effects on the national economy.

The symposium on the "Best Possible Solution to Overpopulation" was organized jointly by the Population Welfare Department (PWD) and the Public Relations Management Group (PRMG).They speakers said that whatever little economic growth the country had achieved over the years was almost neutralized by the explosive growth in the population.

They maintained that the population growth rate could not be brought down unless the government and civil society organizations joined hands and worked together to control it.

They stressed spread of awareness of the problem through the media in the national and regional languages, particularly in the remote rural areas.

They pointed out that a large number of married couples, mostly in urban areas, knew about family planning but could not practise it as they did not have access to service providers, and consequently the contraceptive prevalence rate in the country was one of the lowest in the region.

They stressed the point that population growth could not be effectively checked unless better reproductive heath facilities were provided to women within their reach and an effective network was established through which quality contraceptive services could be made available, even in the remote rural areas, at their doorstep.

They said the population growth rate in the country during the 1970s and 1980s was over 3 per cent, among the highest in the world, and had now been brought down to nearly 2 per cent, still the highest in the region.

The further said the maternal mortality ratio was around 300 deaths per 100,000 live births, which was one of the highest in the world, and only 18 per cent of the deliveries were attended to by trained or skilled health care providers.

The infant mortality rate was also very high. Over 35,000 women died every year during pregnancies and over 375,000 others suffered life long ailments due to pregnancy-related complications.

They noted that the family planning programme had not been a success in the country as it had been in India, Bangladesh, Iran, Sri Lanka which had successfully brought down their population growth rate to a sustainable level.

Tracing the history of the issue, they said the family planning programme was initiated during President Ayub Khan's era. It received a major setback during Gen Zia's government when it was almost scrapped and many people associated with it were sacked or laid off. The programme received a new lease of life after the present government came into office.

The UNFPA Pakistan representative, Dr Olivier Brasseur, said political will was necessary for achieving any goal and it was a good sign that here the political leadership was aware of the issue.

Sindh Population Welfare Minister, Imtiaz Shaikh, who was to be the chief guest, could not come as he was in Islamabad. His message on the occasion said the government was making efforts to ensure regular supplies of the contraceptives to the people,

Former federal population welfare secretary, Abdul Rasheed Khan, Population Welfare Secretary Mushtaq Memon, Warasat Hasnain, Dr Kamran Mashhadi, Sajid Jafri, and others spoke on the occasion.