ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister’s Coordinator on Health Dr Malik Mukhtar Ahmad Bharath on Tuesday said despite the presence of a National Action Plan (NAP), population was increasing at an alarming rate of 2.5pc.

Speaking at the opening session of three-day workshop titled, ‘Implementation Status of National Action Plan (NAP) on Population (2019-24) and Impediments / Bottlenecks Causing Hurdles to Reduce Population Growth Rate in Pakistan’, he said the prime minister was very much concerned about polio, family planning and nutrition of the general masses.

According to a statement, the objective of the workshop is to access the implementation status of NAP and highlight challenges and hurdles which resulted in increase in population growth rate from 2.4pc in 2017 to 2.5pc in 2024.

Dr Mukhtar advocated for a comprehensive strategy endorsed by all stakeholders to tackle the issues such as unmet needs of contraceptives, universal health coverage, and unwanted pregnancies.

He proposed integration of population welfare and health departments at provinces and merger of lady health worker’s programme in the Population Welfare Department and urged for incorporating family planning into the Expanded Programme on Immunisation (EPI) to enhance service delivery.

He encouraged participants to share insights and obstacles from their respective provinces, acknowledging their expertise and diverse perspectives.

Published in Dawn, April 24th, 2024