Pakistan launches a new population policy

14 March 2010

Source: DAWN

Pakistan has adopted a new National Population Policy that promises to increase support for family planning services and information.

A new population policy

The National Population Policy 2010 recognises that demographics are the key to promoting economic development and security in Pakistan. It prioritises family planning - particularly in an effort to promote birth spacing - as the best strategy for achieving ambitious population targets (2.1 births per woman in 2025). It calls for improved service delivery, increased availability of contraceptives and the expansion of service delivery from urban to rural areas.

The policy is long overdue. Although the Family Planning Association of Pakistan was set up as early as 1952, Pakistan has seen a five-fold increase in its population between 1951 and 2009, from 34 million to 171 million.

High unmet need for family planning

The urgent need for revamped family planning service delivery cannot be understated. Although 96 per cent of married Pakistani women are aware of at least one modern contraceptive method, only 22 per cent are currently using modern contraceptives, while another eight per cent use less effective traditional methods. One quarter of married women want to wait before having another child, or do not want more children, but are not using contraception. And 24 per cent of married women admit that their last child was mistimed or unwanted.

Family planning would have far-reaching benefits

If successful, the policy could play a key role in reducing severe poverty, improving food security, reducing infant and maternal mortality, and elevating the status of women in Pakistan. However, implementation is of course the key. Bureaucracy, a lack of resources, inefficiencies in the health system, lack inclusion of men and low levels of women's education are just some of the potential barriers to implementation.

The full article published in Dawn, one of Pakistan's leading daily newspapers, written by Huma Yusuf, a Pakistan Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center, is available here.