Pakistan’s President for Attitudinal Change Towards Family Planning

Mon Feb 13 2023
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Rao Zeeshan
family planning
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Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s President, Dr. Arif Alvi, has called for bringing attitudinal change in society towards family planning to advance reproductive health and effectively manage the growing population in Pakistan. He said that rapid population growth was placing tremendous strain on national resources, and family planning was the essential intervention to check the increasing population growth.

President Alvi expressed these views while talking to the Country Representative of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), Dr. Luay Shabaneh, who called on him, at Aiwan-e-Sadr, on Monday.

Talking to Dr Shabaneh, the President said that religious scholars, media, and opinion leaders could help bring positive behavioral changes in society by supporting family planning processes in the country.

He said national religious scholars and media needed to raise awareness about family planning by educating the people. He emphasized that all stakeholders should coordinate efforts to promote family planning and better family health as fundamental human rights of married couples.

Measures for effective family planning in Pakistan

The President highlighted that 50 percent of pregnancies in Pakistan, out of 9 million, were unwanted due to the unmet need of its population for family planning products and services.

He underscored the need to take measures to improve the health and nutrition of its people, especially maternal and reproductive health, reducing the maternal and infant mortality rate, and stunting and malnutrition.

He called for effective measures by the provincial governments, civil society, NGOs, media organizations, religious scholars, and relevant government departments and agencies to advance the agenda of family planning and better health in the country.

Dr. Luay Shabaneh briefed the President about the role of UNFPA in promoting family planning services in Pakistan. He said that UNFPA had been a lead organization that supported all the Demographic and Health Surveys conducted in Pakistan so far, besides supporting Pakistan’s efforts towards the accelerated delivery and accessibility of high-quality family planning information and services. He further informed that UNFPA had provided technical and financial support to Pakistan for the past 50 years.

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