Daily Times

LAHORE: Punjab Health Minister Dr. Yasmin Rashid has said that fast increasing population is one of the biggest problems of the country and all stakeholders must sit together to solve the problem on permanent basis. Speaking as the chief guest at an awareness seminar on Family Planning at a local hotel here on Friday, she said that special trainings of lady health workers would be the key to raising awareness on family planning.

She appreciated the support of the World Bank in family planning efforts and said that the primary goal of the government was to provide quality family planning services. She said that the use of contraceptives across the province could make the family planning initiatives a success. The minister said that special training was being provided to lady health workers (LHWs) and the training as well as awareness of LHWs would lead to improved results.

She said that the birth spacing was important for both mother and child while lack of it could result in iron deficiency in both mother and child and Anaemia was one of the leading causes of death in Pakistan after childbirth.

“There must be a gap of at least three years between two babies,” she stressed.

She said that Allah Almighty has commanded that the child must be breastfed for the first two years.

The minister said that mother’s care and attention was important for the mental and physical development of the child.

“We will make the Family Planning initiative a success in Punjab with the support of the World Bank,” she said and added the Punjab government would work on a comprehensive policy for a healthy Punjab in collaboration with the World Bank.

During the conference, the efforts of the Health Department for family planning in Punjab were appreciated. Population Welfare Department, P&D, World Bank and the Punjab Health Department were partners in organising the conference.

Special Secretary Development Dr. Farrukh Naveed, DG Health Services Dr. Haroon Jahangir, Dr. Akhtar Rashid, Dr. Athar, Prof. Javed Chaudhry, World Bank Practice Manager Gail Richardson, Senior Health Specialist Mano Bithari and other officers attended the conference while Dr. Zeba Sattar, Dr. Yasmin Qazi, Dr. Tabanda Sarosh, Dr. Fauzia Asad joined via video link.