World Population Day 11th July 2021: Messages from Secretary to Government of Sindh, Population Welfare Department

TEXT: With an aim to celebrate World Population Day with great enthusiasm and passion, Population Welfare Department, Sindh will be commemorating a walk on July 11, 2021 at Seaview Karachi along with its partners and members of the civil society. World Population Day aims to increase awareness on various population issues such as the importance of family planning, gender equality, poverty, maternal health and human rights.

As of 2020, Pakistan is ranked as fifth most populous nation in the world, with a population of over 220 million. The economy of a nation heavily relies on population growth and such growth must be sustainable and proportionate to the resources available. In the Family Planning Summit, London 2012, Pakistan with its health and population indicators was declared one of the most priority countries, which needs to make institutional improvements and enhance investment in family planning to achieve Family Planning targets.

In this regard, the Population Welfare Department, Sindh initially established a FP2020 working group. In 2014, PWDS initiated observance of Family Health Days (FHDs) with an aim to promote family planning activities throughout Sindh.

Sindh was the first province to take the initiative of formulating a Population Policy. This advancement helped in accomplishing unmet needs of family planning services in rural and remote areas where access to service delivery outlets is identified to be negligible. In addition to that, two Family Health Days are observed each week in remote and underserved areas of each district in Sindh.

Population Welfare Department is providing Family Planning and Reproductive Health services through Service Delivery Points. At the moment, 966 Family Welfare Centers, 82 RHS ‘A’ centers and 72 Mobile Service Units are actively working in Sindh. Also, to extend complete Family Planning Package in underserved areas, concept of RHS B model at Sindh level is introduced. Under this model, Population Welfare Department provides free of cost contraceptives and training in Family Planning methods, if required to family health care providers. Currently, 132 functional RHS B centers, 50 Registered Medical Practitioners and 54 NGOs are working under a MoU with Population Welfare Department Sindh for providing Family Planning services.

Moreover, Population Welfare Department, Sindh is committed to increasing contraceptives prevalence rate (CPR) to 43% by 2025 and 50% by 2030. In this regard, Sindh Population Task Force meetings are held regularly and functional integration between departments is ensured. Under the functional integration between Health and Population Welfare Department in Sindh, 286 out of 966 Family Welfare Centres are relocated to health facilities to streamline Family Planning services. In addition to that, 46 FWCs are relocated to other Government health facilities and private hospitals.

According to UNFPA research, an estimated 12 million women have experienced disruptions in family planning services around the globe due to the COVID-19 pandemic, leading to 1.4 million unintended pregnancies. Moreover, the UNFPA and partner surveys reported that access to family planning was widely disturbed by factors including travel restrictions, interrupted supply chains, stock outs and majority of health facilities dedicated for COVID-19 patients. Despite of rising costs and supply chain constraints, Population Welfare Department, Sindh provides contraceptives in timely manner. In addition to that, personal protective equipment were also provided to family health workers to ensure their safety.

Furthermore, Population Welfare Department Sindh is committed to strengthen the Population Welfare Training Institute (PWTI), Karachi and Regional Training Institutes (RTI’s) of Karachi, Hyderabad, Larkana and Sukkur in line with modern Family Planning techniques and quality trainings. In addition to that, PWDS is also providing FP training to Doctors/Paramedic staff of Health Department and other stakeholders.

On this auspicious occasion of “World Population Day”, I assure you that Population Welfare Department, Sindh is dedicated to raise awareness on sexual and reproductive health needs and challenges that women and girls faced during the pandemic.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2021