“The overall vision of
the National Population Policy 2002 is to achieve population stabilization by
2020 through the expeditious completion of the demographic transition that
entails declines both in fertility and mortality rates”
The province of Punjab
having a population of nearly 100 million presents the challenge to address
issues like economic development and poverty reduction. While accommodating
approximately 55.6 percent of the total population with 26 percent of the land
area of the country, it faces major impact of rapid population increase. Such a
heavy load, in the backdrop of low socio-economic indicators, not only dilutes
results of development efforts, it also creates unacceptable level of demand on
limited resources to meet requirements of additional population. Generating
more resources for improving living conditions thus becomes a difficult task.
In the past, high population growth has significantly added to the community
living below poverty line. Based on present growth patterns and trends the
population of Punjab is expected to double after 36 years. It is feared that
the economy would not be able to sustain this growth, and no improvement in the
quality of life would seem possible even under the most favorable assumptions. The
present population trend is, therefore, a matter of deep national concern.
Addressing high
population growth should undoubtedly be a central issue in the overall planning
perspective. The need to pursue an effective Population Program at all levels
can neither be ignored nor exaggerated. Differences in geographical
distribution of population, being concentrated more in the northern districts
of the province than in the southern districts, differences in terrain and in
culture, and, to top it all, the choice for adoption of birth spacing by
couples being purely voluntary are some of the challenges faced by the
department to address the rapidly growing population.
Goals of the National Population Policy
PWD has formulated its goals as to:
·
Attain a balance between
resources and population within the broad parameters of the ICPD paradigm.
·
Address various
dimensions of the population issue within national laws, development priorities
while remaining within our national social and cultural norms.
·
Increase awareness of
the adverse consequences of rapid population growth both at the national,
provincial, district and community levels.
·
Plan, organize and
implement family planning, advocacy and service delivery activities through the
Family Health Clinics, Mobile Service Units, Family Welfare Centers, Registered
Medical Practitioners, Hakeems and Homoeopaths.
·
Promote family planning
as an entitlement based on informed and voluntary choice.
·
Attain a reduction in
fertility through improvement in access and quality of reproductive health
services.
·
Reduce population
momentum through a delay in the first birth, changing spacing patterns and
reduction in family size desires.
Objectives of the National Population Policy
Moreover, the Department has stemmed its objectives which are:
·
Reduce population growth
rate from 1.9 per cent per annul in 2004 to 1.3 percent per annul by the year
2020.
·
Reduce fertility through
enhanced voluntary contraceptive adoption to replacement level 2.1 births per
woman by 2020.
·
Increase contraceptive
prevalence rate from 30% to 60% by 2020.
·
Universal access to safe
family planning methods by 2020.
Strategies of the National Population
Policy
In order to attain maximum results, PWD has coined very precise and decisive
strategies. The department strives to:
·
Develop and launch
advocacy campaigns to address special groups, such as, policy makers, opinion
leaders, youth and adolescents.
·
Increase ownership of
population issues by the stakeholders and strengthen their participation in the
processes of service delivery and program designs.
·
Reduce unmet need for
family planning services by making available quality family planning & RH
services to all married couples who want to limit or space their children.
·
Adopt a shift from
target oriented to people-centered needs and services
·
Ensure provision of
quality services especially to the poor, under-served and unversed populations
in rural areas and urban slums.
·
Coordinate and monitor a
comprehensive network of family planning & reproductive health services.
·
Build strong
partnerships with concerned Line Ministries, Provincial line Departments
particularly Health, Non-Governmental Organizations and the private sector
including the industrial sector to maintain standards in family planning by
providing assistance/guidance through advocacy, training, monitoring and other
means of participation and quality assurance.
·
Strengthen contribution
to population activities by civil society players, particularly NGOs and media.
·
Expand the role of the
private sector by making contraceptives accessible and affordable through
social marketing of contraceptives and through local manufacture of contraceptives.
·
Decentralize program
management and service delivery to provincial and district levels
·
Punjab Population Policy
2016, specifically tailored as per needs of the population of Punjab, has been
drafted and is in process of approval.