Sindh Health Minister Dr Azra Fazal Pechuho said that we have to control the growing population, which is possible only through contraception, the right to decide to get pregnant should be given to the woman instead of the husband and no one should pressure the woman to give birth to a child.
She was addressing the Family Planning Conference 2023 on Tuesday arranged by Dr Nighat Shah, Associate Professor of Jinnah Sindh Medical University and Focal Person of Family Planning for Tertiary Care Hospitals, at Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre.Dr Azra reiterated that no one should pressure a woman to give birth to a child, because frequent pregnancy affects the health of the mother. Every member of society should work on family planning, Sindh Health Department is providing exemplary healthcare services, she added.
The conference brought together government, NGOs, public and private sector hospitals for assuming responsibility and leadership towards family planning.Speaking at the occasion, the Vice Chancellor of Jinnah Sindh Medical University Professor Amjad Siraj Memon said that the problem of increasing population can be controlled through Vasectomy and its services should be provided in every hospital.Dozens of people in the UK go to hospital for Vasectomy every week, while in Karachi, only 250 people go to hospital for Vasectomy in a whole year, which is a very low rate, he said stressing that people have to be made aware of family planning.Dr Nighat Shah, Associate Professor of Jinnah Sindh Medical University, said that encouraging results have started coming in the rural areas where we are working on family planning.Dr Talib Lashari, Technical Adviser of Sindh Population Welfare Department, said that the rate of family planning after the birth of a child used to be 1% which has rise to 15%.
He stressed on the need for further work.The Department of Population Welfare Sindh is working to empower women, in order to control the growing population. All doctors’ job descriptions should require them to encourage family planning among their patients. Economic development is not possible until the population growth is balanced, he emphasized.Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto Medical University Larkana Vice Chancellor Professor Dr Nusrat Shah said that population growth is a serious problem, the population bomb has exploded, we need dedicated counselors and organizing this conference is the right choice to stop population growth.Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation’s family planning advisor in Pakistan Dr Yasmeen Qazi said that after the birth of a child, a break is very important for the health of the mother, the members of the assemblies should encourage family planning in their respective constituencies.
