According to a United Nations’ report, the population of Pakistan will reach to 242 million by 2025 and the current estimated population of Pakistan is 212 million which makes it the fifth most populous country of the world.

That the population growth bomb is ticking is a fact. Given country’s scarce resources, population growth certainly plays a role in exacerbating poverty. In other words, it will reduce per capita income and well-being and cause adverse effects on child health in particular. We must wake up to this population growth challenge. That the country does not have the required resources to meet the population growth challenge is a fact. Successive governments have done little or nothing to encourage people to adopt the practice of controlling the number of children and the intervals between their births. There have been no advocacy efforts for family planning and reproductive health.

Sania Khan (Islamabad)

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021