KARACHI, June 17: Speakers at a seminar here on Monday said unless the current population growth rate was checked, the country could face a severe crisis as its natural resources and its economy would not be able to meet the demands of the people in future.
At the Media Seminar 2002 organized by the Sindh Population Welfare Department, the speakers urged the government and non-government sectors to join hands to combat the problem of uncontrolled demography, as none of these alone could counter it effectively.
The Sindh Minister of Health, Maj-Gen Ahsan Ahmed (retd), said concerted efforts were being made to bring down the existing 2.1 per cent population growth rate to 1.9pc by 2003.
Other speakers said now the country’s population was more than 142 million, and with the annual growth rate of about 2.1pc, it was the highest as compared to the average of South and Central Asia (1.8 per cent). More than three million people were added to it annually, which came to eight babies being born every minute.
They said more than half the population did not have access to healthcare facilities: there was only one doctor for more than 1,550 people, one nurse for more than 3,785 people, one hospital bed for more than 1,515 people and more than 75pc of deliveries were conducted at home.
They said when the country’s resources were proving insufficient for the present population of more than 142m, then what would happen when the population became 170m in 2011 and 198m in 2021.
The speakers said while the situation was not good all over the country, it was worse in Sindh, as the density of population in this province was 216 as compared to the country’s 166.
They said more than 3.1pc of Sindh’s population was handicapped as compared to Punjab’s 1pc, the NWFP’s 2.1pc, Balochistan’s 2.2pc, and the average for the country was 25 pc. They said a study be conducted to find out its causes.
The chief guest, Federal Minister of Information Nisar Memon, said the electronic media would be asked to accommodate such programmes that conveyed the message of family planning properly.
He urged the print media to carry such messages and articles that created awareness of the issue.
The Sindh minister of health said the main parameters which needed to be addressed in presenting and propagating population welfare programmes were poverty alleviation, basic health needs, safe motherhood, clean drinking water, affordable housing projects and basic education.
He said the population growth rate had been brought down from more than 3pc to 2.1pc, but it was still more than that of many other Muslim countries such as Iran (1.2pc) and Indonesia (1.8pc).
Other speakers said the electronic media could play a more effective role as it reached more than 85pc of the population.
Sindh Social Welfare Secretary Ashfaq Memon, Director-General Ghulam Akber Bhutto, Ghazi Salahuddin, Jami Chandio, Dr Sulaiman Shaikh, Tahir A. Khan, Bedil Masroor, Haroon Jafri, Nasim Shahid, Zaibunnisa and others also spoke.