KARACHI, July 10: Like elsewhere across the globe, which is likely to see an increase of about 73 million people in its population this year, the World Population Day (WPD) will also be observed in the city on July 11.

Declared by the United Nations to give people an opportunity to think about the impacts of rapid human population growth on the planet, its resources and environment, the WPD theme for the year is “Plan your future: Plan your family”.

The secretary of the Population Welfare Department, Sindh, Siddiq Memon, says the day is again a chance to create awareness about the importance of voluntary family planning and its relevance to development issues, including gender equality, poverty, maternal health, human rights and environmental protection.

“The WPD this year extends special support to women in countries like ours to make them understand that it is there right to understand the importance of family planning and become a key actor in its implementation”, Mr Memon said, adding that it was the right of the women in the province as well to have access to the information and services they needed to plan their families.

Research indicated that a lack of access to the desired family planning methods remained especially high among the poorer and less-educated segments of the population in the developing countries.

Moreover, fears and myths prevalent among the population on the use of contraceptives also are some of the factors contributing to the low contraceptive prevalence rate among married couples in the country and province.

According to Family Planning Worldwide 2008 Data Sheet produced by the Population Reference Bureau, USA, the percentage of married women in Pakistan using any family planning method at present stood at 29.6. Of them 21.7 per cent rely on modern methods like the intrauterine device (IUD), injection, condom and sterilization, while another 7.9 used the traditional methods, including periodic abstinence (also called the rhythm method) and withdrawal.

A maximum number of women using the modern methods went for sterilization (8.2 per cent), followed by use of condoms (6.8 per cent), IUD and injection (2.3 per cent each). Other married women who have an unmet need for family planning prefer to stop having children by limiting their births (21 per cent) or want to wait two or more years to have another child by spacing their births (12 per cent).

According to experts, besides the promotion of wide range of family planning choices across the province both in terms of total uses and the types of methods used, the early child bearing pattern also needed to be taken into consideration.

Research showed that young people were reaching puberty earlier because of improved nutrition, which had implications not only because of the traditional rituals attached to puberty but also exposed to significant health risks for a longer period. Theses included the complications of pregnancy for young women, and risk of sexually transmitted diseases for both young men and women.

An array of social challenges emerges from early parenthood, but the consequences are dire for young women as compared with the young men. Among them are possible physical and social ramifications from early pregnancy, which can include injury from childbirth if the body is not fully mature, early exit from school, a greater labour burden, and an inability to develop social and economic support systems.

According to Sindh Population Welfare department officials, the rate of use of contraceptives among the married couples is around 30 per cent in the province, while the ratio of sterilization is nine women to one man. The population growth rate is 1.8 per cent per year.

The secretary of the department, Mr Memon held that now it was high time to think afresh that health service reached women faster and in an effective manner and on the other hand women were also empowered in the context of having children and planning their families. When couples decide to have smaller and healthier families it, in addition to them, also benefits the communities socially, economically and environmentally, he remarked.

He said that his department was taking all measures ensuring creation of awareness among the masses about the importance of family planning and delivery of relevant services that the marginalized population and young people needed to plan their families.

He also stressed the need for providing reproductive health services, including voluntary family planning, skilled attendance at birth and awareness among the people for smaller families and said that currently, 585 family welfare centers in the rural areas and 80 reproductive health centers in cities, including Karachi and Nawabshah were operating for the purpose.

In connection with the WPD celebrations, in the meantime, the population department has announced to organise a walk at Mazar-i-Quaid at 9.30am, followed by a seminar at a local club on July 11.