QUETTA (6 AM Report): The first meeting of the Provincial Task Force on Population was held on the direction of Mir Abdul Qadoos Bizenjo, the Chairman of the Provincial Task Force and the Chief Minister of Balochistan, to address the challenges of the increasing population in Balochistan.
The challenges include family planning, increasing the interval between child births, and lack of healthcare facilities due to the growing population. The meeting was attended by provincial ministers, advisers, and secretaries including Noor Mohammad Dummar, Syed Ehsan Shah, Sardar Masood Khan Luni, Secretary of Population, Secretary of Social Welfare, Secretary of Women Development, UN representative for family planning, and Director General of Health, among other relevant officials.
Abdullah Khan, the Secretary of the Population Department, briefed the attendees and stated that the health indicators in the province are the lowest in the region and appropriate attention is not being given to maternal and child health, resulting in the deaths of 1,100 women during childbirth and 29,000 children annually. Due to the high population, 54% of children are out of school, and women’s representation in the provincial labor force is only 8%. According to the 2017 census, the population of the province is increasing at a rate of 3.7 which is alarming.
To tackle these challenges, the Population Welfare Department’s talent pool and budget need to be increased. The attendees also stressed the need to strengthen the capacity of the Population Department and ensure the availability of family planning services to every corner of the province.
In addition, awareness campaigns and community mobilization efforts are necessary to change people’s attitudes towards family planning and maternal and child health. The attendees agreed to hold regular meetings to monitor the progress of the task force’s initiatives.
Leave a Reply