Family planning saves lives and transforms the community

World Population Day is observed around the world since 11 July, 1987 when the world's population reached 5 billion. The world population in total has reached to 7.60 billion in June 2017. The world population increases by 100 million approximately in every 14 months and major thrust of growth is in developing countries like Bangladesh. According to United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs as published on 21 June, 2017, global population will reach to 9.80 billion by 2050.

World Population Day is observed mainly to address 5 major issues: increase the acceptance level of family planning, ensure gender equality, reduce poverty, ensure maternal health and establishing human rights. These are broad areas on which every year United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) declares a theme to concentrate and emphasise on particular aspect. Whatever might be the theme, mainly some public health and reproductive health issues are highlighted every year with the vision to improve the capacity of human being and understanding of the better lifestyle with good health, building nation of healthy citizens and transform the nation quickly to a welfare state. 

This year's theme is 'Family Planning: Empowering People, Developing Nations.' Access to safe, voluntary family planning is a human right. It is also central to gender equality and women's empowerment, and is a key factor in reducing poverty. Yet around the world, some 225 million women who want to avoid pregnancy are not using safe and effective family planning methods, for reasons ranging from lack of access to information or services to lack of support from their partners or communities. Most of these women with an unmet demand for contraceptives live in 69 of the poorest countries on earth. Investments in making family planning available also yield economic and other gains that can propel development forward.

This year's World Population Day coincides with the Family Planning Summit, the second meeting of the Family Planning 2020 (FP 2020) initiative, which aims to expand access to voluntary family planning to 120 million additional women by 2020.

To be more specific and precise, World Population Day is observed to protect and empower youths of both genders like boys and girls. It is to offer them knowledge about sexuality and benefit of the delay in marriage. This is to educate youth to avoid unwanted pregnancies by using reasonable and youth friendly means, educate about pregnancy related illness to raise the public awareness and about dangers of early parenthood. All these are mostly related to empowerment of people as responsible citizens who can contribute to the rapid progress of a country.

The family planning programme of Bangladesh is a success story. To sustain its gains so far achieved and overcome future hurdles, there are ways of new interventions to make it more inclusive. The challenges of attaining the targets of Sustainable Development Goals are major issues for the family planning programme in Bangladesh. The SDG goal 3.7 categorically stated, "By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health care services including family planning, information, education and integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes."

To achieve these targets, there must be massive campaign and activities for small family norms and family planning. The inter-linkage and integrated nature of programmes with specific vision to empower the people must be taken to build up social capital development and make radical changes in the lifestyle of people who are very rapidly being urbanised with changes in their way of living and thoughts.

The writer is a former advisor to the caretaker government.

E-mail: dknath888@gmail.com