ISLAMABAD, Nov 22: Minister for Population Welfare Chaudhry Shahbaz Hussain on Monday asked international donor agencies to support the ministry to conduct a national survey on Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR).

He was presiding over a meeting with representatives from main donor agencies including USAID, UNFPA, DFID, European Union and Asian Development Bank here on Monday.

During the meeting, it was discussed that no research-based data on MMR was available in Pakistan. According to estimates the MMR ranges between 350-450/100,000 live births, therefore, donors are encouraged to provide funding to conduct national survey on maternal mortality rate in Pakistan.

The minister also desired support for provision of contraceptives so that the government's budget could be utilized on other activities of population programme. The meeting was called to enhance interaction and to seek more support from donors in order to achieve targets given by the prime minister.

Mr Hussain desired that the donors might consider to provide support for capacity-building of population programme managers working at district, provincial and federal level through short and long-term courses.

During the meeting, it was observed that International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) held in Cairo in 1994 suggested that up to two-third of the population programme cost would continue to be met by the countries themselves and one-third from external sources. But current international support is less than half of this required level while Pakistan's own budget in this regard has increased manifold since ICPD. The donors appreciated this opportunity to discuss current assistance and future plan and would help to avoid duplication of efforts.

Shehzad Sheikh, who recently took over as the population welfare secretary, was also present on the occasion and gave a comprehensive briefing on various issues related to population welfare.