LAHORE – Dr. Atif Ali, Focal Person for HIV-AIDS Program of Government of Punjab stressed a need to readjust working approaches to manage population in Pakistan and fulfill contraceptive needs of every Pakistani.
He was addressing the audience at an event organized Marie Stopes Society with the collaboration of Punjab Institute of Language, Art and Culture and FM 95 Punjab Rang to observed World Contraception Day. The day was observed under the slogan of “It’s your life, It’s your future”.
He said that resources are not sufficient for this huge size of population.
Regional Manager Marie Stopes Society in his address said that United Nations (UN) has projected that Pakistan’s fertility rate will double its population to be more than 400 million by 2050.
This upcoming situation will increase Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) as 140 deaths per100,000 live births and Infant Mortality Rate (IMR) as 52.30 per 1,000 live births which is already very high in Pakistan.
In global context, Pakistan is ranked 61st in Maternal Mortality Rate (MMR) and 20th in Infant Mortality Rate (IMR).
He further added that One Married Women in 4 in Pakistan has an unmet need for contraception, which is the highest such rate in the region.
As is the case for family planning, this unmet need is for both spacing births and limiting families.
Marie Stopes Society is working for poorest of the poor communities to address their contraceptive and family planning needs, he further added.
People from health sector, social sector and other walks of life attended the program and appreciated the efforts of Marie Stopes Society for working this important social topic.
