Pakistan’s population projected to increase 285m by 2030

Islamabad Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world with a population of 207.8 million growing at a growth rate of 2.4 percent per annum between 1998-2017 (Population and Housing Census 2017).

At this rate, Pakistan population will double in next 30 years compared with an average doubling time of 60 years for other South Asian countries. The population of the country is projected to increase to 285 million by 2030.

Such a high level of population growth is unsustainable and has already eaten into the modest gains made in terms of socio-economic development. The rapidly growing population has direct negative implications for adverse climate change, environment degradation, deforestation and above all the decline in water availability per capita putting Pakistan in water stress situation.

Revelations into this account has been made by the Ministry of National Health Services, Regulations and Coordination to a query of a senator during the ongoing session of the Senate.

Senator Seemee Ezdi had inquired about the details of the recommendations about controlling the rapid population growth as forwarded by the Council of Common Interests (CCI) during the last 10 years.

Nearly, one fourth of the country’s population continues to live below the national poverty line with the absolute numbers of poor increasing due to the population growth rates, the reply added.

It maintains that approximately 60 per cent of the country’s population faces food insecurity and nearly 50 per cent of the women and children are malnourished.

Many Pakistan children faced with long term nutritional deprivation, balanced food insecurity, poor health services, illness linked to hygiene and improper feeding practices, it further stated.

Meanwhile it also highlighted number of initiatives which either have already been taken or they are at the cards to address population growth rate issue.

The federal government has planned to create a five-year non-lapsable Special Fund with annual allocation of Rs10 billion aiming to reduce population growth rate.

The fund shall be set up exclusively from federal resources without any cut from provincial funds. The Ministry of National Health Services is the responsible ministry in this connection.

It would meet for five years, 50 per cent amount of additional allocations made by the provinces for procurement of contraceptive commodities over and above the budget provision of fiscal year 2018-19 in the respective head.

It would also meet for five years 50 per cent cost of increase in Lady Health Workers (LHWs) for 100 per cent coverage for doorstep services in rural and peri-urban areas.

It will also provide support innovative approaches of the federal and the provincial governments for reaching poor and marginalized population to reduce population growth and increase contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR).

Meanwhile, a national narrative will be developed in consultation with provinces and other stakeholders to create a sense of urgency and necessity of reducing population growth rate and achieving socio-economic wellbeing for all.

Meanwhile, PEMRA has been assigned the job to provide free airtime for family planning messages on radio and TV channels at prime time.

The HEC and federal and the provincial education departments have been assigned the job to include population dynamics in Pakistan in secondary and higher secondary schools.

The family planning commodities to be included in essential drug list of primary secondary and tertiary drug list.

Fourteen adolescent sexual reproductive health (ASRH) centres have been established in districts including Charsadda, Chitral Lower, DI Khan, Haripur and others.

Ministry of National Health Services has drafted four bills regarding Family Planning and Reproductive Health (FP&RH) Rights, Child Marriage Restraint and Premarital Counseling etc.

Early Child Marriage Restraint Bill has been drafted in KP and vetted by Law Department and an act has been prepared by Social Welfare Department and submitted it for approval to the provincial government of Balochistan.