Daily Times

According to the recently released ‘The 2020 World Population Data Sheet’ Pakistan’s annual population growth rate is 3.6 percent which is highest in the region and if it remains growing at the same pace, it will have double the population in the coming 19.4 years. There is another threat according to which Pakistan will be the world’s fourth most populous country in 2030. The problem of rapid growth in population is like keeping a ticking bomb in hands which can explode at any time because at the same time when the population is growing speedily, the resources in the country are also decreasing. How Pakistan can fulfill the growing needs of its overgrowing population with available limited resources? Consequently, inflation, hunger, dearth of urban facilities, violence, extremism, suicides and criminal activities increase.

Currently, the population of the world has reached seven billion humans and Pakistan is at fifth place among most populous countries with a population of more than 220.9 million. Its 64.9 percent population is rural while 35.1 percent is urban. Every year, the world bears an increase of 83 million humans in its population and in case if the growth rate/trend remains, the projected population of the world will be as 8.6 billion in 2030, 9.8 billion in 2050 and 11.2 billion in 2100. The Asia continent covers 29 percent land of the world and its current population is 4.5 billion which means the world’s 60 percent population lives here and in 2050, this population would reach 5.26 billion.

Growth of population also affects the environment as the more population uses more resources which include land, water, wood, gas, air and other natural resources. A mindful person understands that the earth has limited resources and we have only this one planet to dwell on so if the population remains growing like this, we will face scarcity of these resources in near future.

According to a research of Global Footprint Network ‘If the population remains increasing with this pace and the population remains using the earth’s resources with the same pace then by 2050, we will need three more earths like this to live alive.’ Currently, 800 million humans of the world are facing food insufficiency. UNO has also warned that owing to water scarcity, unavailability of land and inadequacy of beneficial insects, the world will need 70 percent more food by 2050.

Water is life and it is one of the fundamental needs of humans but every human is not so lucky to have easy access to safe drinking water on a daily basis. According to a research of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), ‘By 2050, more than 5 billion humans will be facing water scarcity in the world.’

Family planning is also a basic right of humans but due to the problems like gender inequality, keeping women away from education, employment and decision making, the women are restricted from this right. The only solution to control the overgrowing population of the world is adoption of family planning practice but due to lack of education and mental awareness our society has not been accepting this blessing and for many people it is still a taboo.

In Pakistan, the Population Welfare Department has offices, rural health centers, mobile service units and family welfare centers in every district/sub district of the country which provide free of cost services but hardly people visit those facilities. The Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) is 30 percent in Pakistan which had to be enhanced to 45 percent as per FP Agenda-2020 by the government.

COVID-19 has affected the health sector badly. Up to 22 percent of the world is in danger due to the pandemic. One among every five people is facing health issues globally and the most affected ones are pregnant women. In Pakistan the mortality rate of mothers/pregnant women and infants is very high. According to the State of World Population report of 2019 ‘The maternal mortality rate of Pakistan is at 178 per 100,000 while only 30 percent childbirth cases are attended by skilled birth attendants, midwives or doctors. This is a dilemma of our healthcare system that we have failed to provide proper healthcare facilities to the most neglected gender of the society.

Pakistan has recently surpassed Brazil to become the world’s fifth most populous country and that’s a concern the government should need to think about.’

Pakistan’s child/infant mortality rate at the time of birth is also very critical. 62.2 child die at the time of birth out of every 1000. The blood deficiency in women of age 15 to 44 has also reached a serious stage. The rural women suffer most as 47 percent of women having rural backgrounds are facing blood deficiencies. The major reasons behind such fiasco are lack of adequate food, child marriages, unawareness regarding family planning education and overall lack of access to avail school education.

There are numerous other issues which excite restlessness among masses in this overpopulated world. According to a UNICEF figure ‘In Pakistan, at the time of marriage, 37 brides out of every 100 have age less than 18 years while more than 70,000 girls aging between 15 to 19 die every year during pregnancy or childbirth.’ Pakistan is among top 20 countries of the world where deplorable incidents of child marriages occur most. Sindh province has ‘Child Marriage Restraint Act – 2013’ to overcome this menace but still it tops among all provinces of the country in underage marriages of girls.

Exploding of day by day growing population bombs can only be rendered by mass mobilization and dissemination of awareness of social, political and religious entities regarding adopting family planning techniques among populace. By this way, we would also be able to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs) and provide our women with necessary healthcare facilities so that they can make their physical and mental health better for themselves, their families and most importantly for this society.

The writer is a freelance contributor