KARACHI: Pakistan’s urgent need for safe and effective family planning and its benefits such as women’s empowerment and shaping a healthier workforce in society was in the spotlight during an awareness session on women’s health and well-being.
The event held in accordance with World Contraception Day was organised by the American Business Council (ABC)-Pakistan in collaboration with Bayer-Pakistan on Tuesday.
Gynaecologist Prof Dr Farrukh Naheed said that social, mental, physical and emotional well-being equals health without stress. “As far as women’s health is concerned, mostly the mention of it being women’s right is something that is frowned on in our society. But those who frown don’t realise that women should be given what is their haq [their right], which has been mentioned in the Holy Quran so many times,” she pointed out.
“It is mentioned that women are to be allowed at least a two-year lactation period after giving birth,” she added. “But here slogans such as ‘Mera jism, meri marzi’, which refers to a women’s right of deciding when she wants to have a baby, are misinterpreted,” she said.
Teenage pregnancy is a problem in Pakistan, moot told
“Pakistan is a low resource country with its population becoming a burden. With a population of 250 million and a young population with high birth rates. When you can manage your population, you enhance your resources. But Pakistan has rapid population growth and a low contraceptive prevalence rate,” the doctor reminded.
“Teenage pregnancy is also a problem in our country. If a girl gets married in teenage, she will have around eight children by the time she is 35 if she does not take precautions. There is a high unmet need for family planning here. But addressing these issues, while clearing the misconceptions and taboos by spreading awareness, can change the dynamics of society,” she said.
While speaking on the subject of women’s health, broadcast journalist and television host Sidra Iqbal said that she had always been ambitious about her career and enjoyed her work. But most of the time when women work very hard, they put their own health on the back burner, she added.
“But the body keeps score,” she said. “Because you should read the word ‘disease’ as ‘dis-ease’. When you are not at ease, and pushing yourself, your body feels it. You have one life and one body. Then if you fall ill, you are alone. You will have to fend for yourself because others will ask you why you worked so hard, as it was not even expected of you,” she said.
Earlier, in her welcome address, ABC-Pakistan’s Vice President Tushna Patel said that health is not a luxury but a human right. “Your health matters. Women’s health matters. And when you invest in women’s health, we educate, empower and support,” she said.
ABC-Pakistan’s General Secretary Imran Shamim also spoke.
Published in Dawn, October 1st, 2025
