CHAKWAL, July 19: The efforts initiated in the sphere of family planning and safe motherhood could not bear the fruit unless the husbands were included in the awareness campaign. Senior Vice-President of Pakistan Muslim League Abdul Majeed Malik said this while speaking at a seminar on “Sensitisation of opinion leaders and politicians on reproductive health/family planning and safe motherhood” held at the District Council Hall here on Tuesday.

The seminar was held with the collaboration of Ministry of Population Welfare, National Programme for Family Planning and Basic Health and UNFPA, SACHET and RHIYA, the NGOs working in the field of health and human development.

Mr Malik said Pakistan was “making progress in all sectors by leaps and bounds” but the galloping population was eating away its resources.

He emphasized the need for private-public partnership to check the increasing rate of population growth.

Praising the endeavours taken in the social sector, Mr Malik urged the participants to organize seminars for the awareness of husbands.

Punjab Health Secretary Qazi Afaq Hussain said every year 24,000 women died from maternity related problems in the country. He welcomed the idea of “Husbands Awareness Programme” floated by Majeed Malik and said a comprehensive programme would shortly be launched to ask the husbands to play their role for achieving the family planning and safe motherhood goals.

Earlier, Dr Ghulam Shabbir Awan told the participants that owing to the lack of facilities at different levels 31 women died during delivery in Chakwal district during the year 2004.

Later, Secretary Health Qazi Afaq Hussain gave away prizes to the Lady Health Visitors (LHVs) and others for best performance.

Those who also spoke on the occasion included EDO Health Dr Iqbal Kahoot and District Population Welfare Officer Asma Sheikh.