Pakistan Population Growth Could Reach 50 Crore in 25 Years, Experts Warn

Health experts and policymakers have warned that Pakistan’s rapidly increasing population is becoming a major challenge for the country’s future, urging immediate action to strengthen family planning awareness and maternal healthcare services.

The concerns expressed at a consultative workshop on Advocating Family Planning organized by the Department of Health and Population, in partnership with parliamentarians, ministers and development partners.

Experts said that currently Pakistan is the fifth most populated country and is under increasing strain of healthcare, education, employment and natural resources because of high population growth and climate change situation.

Provincial Minister for Health and Population Khawaja Imran Nazir said that family planning is vital for a strong, secure and prosperous future. He said good policies on family planning needed to be implement to improve maternal and child health in the country.

Shah Rukh Hasan Khan, Managing Director of Mir Khalil-ur-Rahman Foundation, stated that the foundation has started activities of public awareness on issues of population control and family planning. The problem requires a collective effort of the government institutions, the media, and the society in general, he added.

Challenges of health, education and population growth remain to be the impediment to Pakistan’s development,” former federal minister Saira Afzal Tarar said. She emphasized the importance of long-term policies and public awareness for addressing these concerns.

The government is making large scale initiatives to address concerns about population growth, maternal health, child welfare and family planning services, Director of the Health and Population Department, Captain Usman Ali Khan said.

Dr. Syed Aziz, Head of Greenstar, emphasized the necessity of spacing births to ensure child and mother health as a minimum as per the guidelines of the Ministry of Health of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh spacing should kept at least three years.

At the workshop, speakers also urged provincial ministers, parliamentarians, media and members of civil society to actively contribute to the awareness creation on family planning and prevention of maternal and child deaths.

The event was attended by several notable personalities, including former minister Zakia Shahnawaz, Uzma Kardar, Secretary Health and Population Nadia Saqib, and actress Asma Abbasi.