Punjab Population Welfare Department (PWD) observes World Population Week 2022: It’s time to take growing population issues seriously.
Everything is being affected by the rapid growth in population, which is consuming space and agricultural area. The time has come to tackle population issues seriously, and in order to do so, outreach and education efforts must be prioritized.
Former Minister for Population Welfare Zakia Shahnawaz spoke at an event organized by the Punjab Population Welfare Department (PWD) in connection with World Population Week 2022 at a local hotel in Punjab. The week of July 18-22 is World Population Week. Zakia Shahnawaz argued that people should be given access to family planning services immediately.
“The population crisis is staring at our face and we have to address it. Our authorities should highlight the importance of a balanced family at all platforms for a prosperous Pakistan”.
She further elaborated that the agricultural land is swiftly turning into housing societies.
“This will lead to food shortage. We need to take action now. Availability of contraceptives is important and district officers will have to pull up their socks,” she said.
“All children need to be in school because they are our future. PWD has the most difficult job at hand,” she said. “Bangladesh has succeeded in controlling the population, Turkey has restricted itself to two children, why can’t we?” she asked.
Dr. Naila, the Additional Secretary of the Punjab Population Welfare Department (PWD), made a presentation outlining Pakistan’s 5th-place ranking in terms of population with 221 million people, with Punjab accounting for 52.96 percent of Pakistan’s total population of 110 million.
Punjab has a total fertility rate of 3.4 and a contraceptive prevalence rate of 38.3 percent, according to the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey 2017-18. If the population continues to expand at its current rate of 2.1 percent, the population of the province would be as large as Pakistan’s by 2047. There are 129 Family Health Clinics (FHCs) and 2100 Family Welfare Centers (FWCs) in the Population Welfare department, she said. Men’s Advisory Centers and Adolescent Counseling Centers can be found in various locations.
The Population Welfare Department’s official YouTube channel, “Behbood”, was launched by the Minister and Secretary PWD. M Akhtar Bhatti, Deputy Director Information, Education and Communication PWD, said the PWD has a strong social media advocacy campaign with 7.5 lakh followers.
