PESHAWAR: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly failed to pass Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Child Marriage Restraint Bill 2014 after passage of two years while the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey states that the ratio of child marriages in the province is as high as 74 per cent. The report said that seven per cent of Pakistan population around ten million consisted of girls between the age of 15 to 19 years among which 15 per cent (1.5 million) were married while 21 per cent of girls were married before the age of 18 in Pakistan. Pakistan is ranked sixth among the nations where around 600,000 child marriages take place every year before the girls attain the age of 15 years while adolescent birth rate is 51 per cent women while in KP the ratio of adolescent birth is 57 per cent. Talking to Daily Times Deputy Director Reproductive Health Khyber Pakhtunkhwa said that Marriage Restraint Act 1929 set the minimum legal age of marriage for girls is 16 years. This was also not a suitable age for marriage for girls, he maintained, adding that for the last two years the Child restraints bill 2014 was not passed from KP assembly as other provinces of the country has passed their bills. He further said that the complication of early marriage are many as in the early age pregnancy is difficult for young girls as many girls growing and their bodies needs the nutrients that are often scarce in poor households for this growth. He inform that when a young girls became pregnant there is completion between her and her fetus which results in poor nutrition for both mother and the foetus, adding that the bodies of these girls are often not fully grown and their pelvis bones are too narrow to allow the passage of a baby at delivery. He added that because of the early marriages fistula disease very common in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa while anemia diseases are very common in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as most of the mother during pregnancy were died. Dr Saeed Gul added that because of the early marriages young girls were not using contraception method for family planning, while only 15% married women were using contraceptive method for family planning in KP. He narrated that most of the young girls during their pregnancy and after delivery were facing blood pressure, enzatia and other physical and mental problems. He informed that after the birth of a baby during the pregnancy of young girls the baby weight is low while its standard weight is 2.5 Kg. Dr Gul said that not only baby was affected but as well mother was also affected of early marriages and most of the time the young girls were left their education and the women were not empowered in the society. He added that Maternal Mortality Ration (MMR) in Pakistan is 275 out of one thousand while infant Mortality Ratio is 58%, while only 28% out of 100 mother were using family planning users in KP. He informed that in Pakistan 8.6 million early pregnancies were reported. He said that 12,172 Lady Health Workers in KP while 1,340 Community Mid Wife while 57 Maternal Neonatal Child Health Centers (MNCH) is working on mother and child health care. He further said that 7,567 Basic Health Units in KP while 92 RHCs were working in KP for Mothers and Child Health. He lamented that the health department trying their best to improve the mothers and child health in KP but it was also the responsibility of Media to create awareness among the masses about early marriages as it affecting the whole family when a girl was married in early ages.