July 13, 2006	Thursday	Jumadi-ul-Sani 16, 1427

KARACHI, July 12: To bring about a reproductive behavioural change and arrest the population growth, a nation-wide comprehensive campaign is needed involving all segments of society with effective contribution by individual, community and NGOs, researchers suggest.

They said that the population welfare programme created awareness about family planning but adoption of family planning was still low in the country and there was a large magnitude of unmet needs.

Available studies reveal that Pakistan will be able to achieve replacement level fertility, bringing Total Fertility Rate (TFR) to 2.1, by the year 2022.

The studies, conducted by the Population Council of Pakistan and the Population Welfare Department, hinted that the pace may ultimately lead to population stabilisation during the next three to four decades provided the country continues to provide reproductive health and family planning services to the population and also accelerate socio-economic development.

The TFR of 4.5 recorded in 2001 was cited as a sign of declining fertility - consequent to rise in the age of marriage, risen from 22 to 27 years, improved literacy rate, surge in labour force participation and increasing use of contraceptives.

It was strongly suggested that Pakistan has to create a balance between population and development besides focussing at concerted efforts to improve reproductive health and reduction in the population growth to secure a better quality of life for people and socio- economic development in the country.

This assumes extreme importance as the population census of 1998, undertaken after a gap of 17 years, reveals that 43 per cent of the 132.4 million Pakistanis fall in the age group of below 14 and dependent on the working population.—APP