ISLAMABAD, 1st February: Concerted multi-pronged government efforts have helped reduce the population growth rate of Pakistan from 3,7 percent in 1990 to 1,8 percent in 2006.
District officer for Population Welfare Muhammad Zeeshan said that after this decrease in population growth the looming threat of population explosion had been averted. However, population is still increasing by 3,5 million per annum, and needs to be controlled, he said.
Talking about population needs vis-a-vis resources, and the present mortality rate, he said that due to scanty medical facilities 70 out of every 1.000 infants and 500 out of each 100.000 mothers died at the time of childbirth.
He said that in rural areas medical facilities were almost non- existent while in urban areas too the facilities are not commensurate with the population requirements.
In urban centers, he said, private hospitals are available to offset the shortage, but they are either too expensive for the common man or lack requisite medical facilities.
– A large segment of our population, 35,5 million, who earn just one US dollar per day fail to avail the basic facilities of life and most live below the poverty line, he noted.
About 56,9 million Pakistanis is without potable water and 77 million without sanitation amenities, while 57,9 million people live in one-room homes, according to Zeeshan.
For the total population of the country estimated at 170 million, the total number of registered doctors is about 100.000 while there are 18.800 specialists. This doctor-population ratio is far less than the internationally-recognized quantum, he added.
Kilder: Xinhua General News Service og The Push Journal
