ISLAMABAD, Dec 4: At least 200 women out of every 1,000 die during delivery process in Pakistan, where infant mortality rate per 1,000 lives is still 87, says the State of the World Population Report 2002 launched on Tuesday.

The report with emphasis on people, poverty and possibilities said 50 out of every 1,000 between the age of 15 to 19 years become pregnant. It noted that the HIV prevalence between the age of 15 to 24 in Pakistan is 0.06 among males and 0.05 among females.

The life expectancy among males is 61.2 years while 60.9 among females whereas the percentage of illiteracy among males is 41 per cent while 70 in females, it added.

The fertility rate for the year 2000 to 2005 is 5.08 as 20 per cent delivery cases are attended by skilled attendants. The total population of the country has been reported at 148.7 million while the average population growth rate from 2000 to 2005 has been estimated at 2.5 per cent. “The gross national income (GNI) per capita purchasing power parity (PPP) for 2000 was $1,860. In India it is $2340 and in Bangladesh $1590.”

The report has recommended to the governments to target assistance directly to the poor and to give them a voice in policies and programmes, which affect them.

It said the government, communities, private sector and the international community must cooperate more closely to make the best use of limited domestic and international resources and exploit comparative advantage.

The report said donors should encourage partnerships among governments and NGOs with particular attention to incorporating the views of the poor in the design, implementation and monitoring of programmes. The reproductive health, pre and post natal care, safe delivery, family planning and prevention of sexually transmitted infections (STIs) and HIV/AIDS was most effective as part of an integrated package.

It said the health sector reforms in many poor countries include integrated health service packages, but special care was needed to protect services for the poor and ensure that they have a voice.

It said the investments in education brought substantial returns. It added that female education, apart from empowering women and widening their life choices, was particularly cost-effective because of the benefits passed on to their children. “However, the investment can be dissipated if lack of choice about the number, timing and spacing of children while rigid gender roles reduce women’s social and economic participation.”

The report also suggested that the income-based measures of poverty were objective, highly amenable to qualitative analysis and accurately described income poverty, provided household surveys were administered carefully.

It said the poverty was the main threat to the well-being of elderly people. Many of the 400 million people over 65 year age in developing countries live below the poverty line. To meet the millennium development goal of halving the proportion of people living in extreme poverty by 2015, poverty reduction strategies must focus on the poorest and most vulnerable older persons, especially women and on breaking the poverty cycle that runs from one generation to the next.