PAKISTAN is running out of time — and space. Our population, now over 240m, continues to grow at nearly 2pc a year. As a result, our schools, hospitals, housing, and job markets, are completely overwhelmed. On World Population Day, federal ministers finally said out loud what had long been whispered: the country’s unchecked population growth has become a national threat. That it took this long for political leaders to sound the alarm is alarming in itself. The health minister warned of the costs in overcrowded hospitals and out-of-school children. The finance minister spoke about how rapid population growth has strained the economy. The planning minister argued for reforming the NFC Award to better reflect development needs. For once, officials seemed to agree on the problem. Yet while the speeches were candid, they were also decades late. For years, successive governments dithered while fertility remained stubbornly high, access to contraception stayed patchy, and millions of unplanned pregnancies went unattended. Today, nearly half of all pregnancies in Pakistan are unplanned. Meanwhile, only 24pc of women participate in the labour force. Little wonder that Pakistan lags behind even many of its regional peers in health, education, and economic indicators.

Tackling the crisis requires political will and cultural clarity. That will have to begin with ditching the perception that family planning is some foreign imposition. Leading Islamic scholars have endorsed responsible family planning as compatible with religious teachings. It is time this was made common knowledge. There are also practical steps that must be taken. Family planning services should be expanded at the primary-care level, especially in underprivileged areas. Programmes like BISP could include reproductive health access as part of their mandate. Girls must stay in school longer, not only because it delays early marriages and pregnancies, but because they are then more likely to earn for themselves and contribute to the economy. Women must be enabled to work, not just allowed. Pakistan needs more female teachers, doctors, engineers, and factory workers. But it also needs to make room for them. The federal government for its part should form a high-level council to coordinate population policy across provinces. The NFC formula needs to shift from counting people to measuring how well they’re being cared for. What’s at stake is not just numbers — it’s the quality of our future.

Published in Dawn, July 14th, 2025