Control over rapidly increasing population is of vital :Begum Zakia Shahnawaz

Lahore: Provincial Minister for Population Welfare, Begum Zakia Shahnawaz has said that the control over rapidly increasing population is of vital importance so that better facilities could be provided to citizens by minimizing the burden on national resources.

She was addressing a seminar held in connection with the release of Punjab Province data/information on Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey (PDHS) 2012-13. The seminar was arranged by National Institute of Population Studies (NIPS). Begum Zakia Shahnawaz said that there is a need to give due importance to family planning in the interest of family health. She said that besides government, civil society, NGOs and the persons associated with health sector should accelerate their efforts in this regard so that better health facilities could become available to the citizens.

Begum Zakia Shahnawaz said that primary healthcare system is being improved and a new population welfare policy is being devised with the consultation of concerned institutions. She said that an important announcement will be made regarding population welfare policy on March 03.

She said that counseling of husband and wife is essential for population control and family mobilizers and community workers can play a significant role in this regard. She said that increase in pre-birth and post-birth mortality rate is a matter of concern. She said that there is a need to maintain interval between child births. She said that she has so far visited five divisions of Punjab and personally reviewed the situation. She said that the departmental campaign regarding promotion of awareness about population welfare programmes is continuing.

Zakia Shahnawaz  said it is a matter of concern that population of Punjab would increase beyond 20 crore in 2050 which will be almost double the existing population of Pakistan. She said that government is striving to provide better facilities to the citizens despite its limited resources. She said that media and civil society can play an important role in overcoming the issue of population explosion. She appreciated the efforts of NIPS in conducting the survey.

Former Federal Minister for Population Welfare and Women Development Begum Atiya Anayatullah, Advisor on Health Khawaja Salman Rafique, officers of Planning & Development, Health, Women Development, Social Welfare, Special Education, representatives of Education, District Population Welfare Officers, District Demographer, EDOs, DHOs and NIPS Executive Director Abdul Basit Khan also addressed the seminar.

Director NIPS Abdul Basit Khan highlighted the background and importance of the survey as well as efforts of the researchers of NIPS in this regard. He stressed the importance of holding of a regional conference for exchange of information among the regional countries about population and health issues. He said that the conference will help in evolving a strategy for achieving the targets of millennium development goals. He said that PDHS 2012-13 was jointly implemented by the Government of Pakistan, Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination and United States government through the United State Agency for International Development. Data for this survey was collected from a nationally representative sample of nearly 14000 households and more than 13500 women and 3000 men between the ages of 15 and 49 years were interviewed.

In the survey, detailed review was held regarding the health of mothers, ratio of deaths of children and completion of vaccination courses. He said that for the first time in Pakistan, data on gender-based violence was also collected under this survey.

Shields were also distributed among the participants at the conclusion of the ceremony.