ISLAMABAD, Jul 11 (APP): The Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination on Sunday announced to observe ‘Population week’ from July 11 to July 17 to raise the awareness level of citizens to consider the burden on the country’s resources due to heavy population growth.
According to an official of the ministry, various activities have been planned to educate the general public through the use of media, urging everyone to take a pledge to make themselves and society aware of the problems arising from the increasing population.
He said that besides the government it is the responsibility of the society to pass on useful information on family planning so that parents can play their role in the sustainable development of the country while making decisions for adopting a gap in family expansion.
In a message on the occasion of World Population Day, Special Assistant to Prime Minister on National Health Services Dr Faisal Sultan said that desire of having children is the right of every parent but this is also important to consider the resources while planning to expand the family.
He added it is necessary for parents to think over how to manage within available resources to provide basic needs of life including education, food, and shelter to their children for their better grooming and growing.
He added in order to make a balanced approach and to make their children useful citizens of this country while ensuring the provision of better necessities of life to their children, parents must realize how much resources they have to require for them.
“Organization and adopting a balanced approach in all matters of life are also the basic philosophies of Islam. These principles should also be adopted in population growth aspects which is not only important for better health of mother and child but for also ensuring better education of children,” Chairman, Council of Islamic Ideology, Qibla Ayaz said in a message on World Population Day.
He said, “For better grooming and shelter of our children, we should consider this important aspect.” He added adopting a balanced approach to population growth is the best way for ensuring better capabilities in children.
The official of the National Health Services Ministry said that every year around three million people are added to the population of Pakistan, which is now the fifth country in the world with regard to the high population and with an increasing population growth ratio of 2.4 percent.
He said that this increase in population resulted in poor health of mother and child besides facing other issues like a heavy burden on water usage, environment, and all other resources of the country.
He said that the Day was observed to create awareness in public about the importance of family planning and the negative effects of population growth. He said that every year Population Day is observed on July 11 to remind people of the challenges being faced due to overpopulation.
He said that the increasing population is the root cause of major problems and that population control is the primary condition for the establishment of an organized and progressive society.