Shillong: World Population Day was observed in Shillong by the District Health Society, National Health Mission, East Khasi Hills, at Ganesh Das Hospital on Friday.
Addressing the captive audience comprising mainly of mothers and their children attending the out-patient and ante-natal clinic in the hospital and the doctors and nurses of Ganesh Das Hospital, East Khasi Hills Deputy Commissioner Sanjay Goyal said what is worrying is the unmet needs (couple wanting to adopt family planning methods but unable to do so) in providing birth control facilities which is 35-35 per cent.
Goyal said population growth is the only things that Meghalaya tops in. “This issue must be discussed at the family level and there should be a sense of urgency among the medical staff to address this worrying trend,” Goyal said.
He stated that while requirement for resources is high the financial allocation for the health sector is grossly
inadequate. Goyal urged the doctors to strengthen the training for ASHA workers who are at the cutting edge of the family planning intervention programmes.
Dr. L.L. Sawian, currently the Director Health Services (MCH&FW), informed the women in their child-bearing years the importance of planning a family so that each child gets adequate space to grow and be nurtured before the next child is born.
“It is sad to see a child of five or six years carrying on her back a baby brother or sister instead of enjoying her childhood. This is what pushes young girls into early marriage thereby adding to the high fertility rate,” Dr. Sawian said.
Others who spoke included Dr. W. Shangpliang of Ganesh Das Hospital and Dr. R.M. Lamare, DM&HO East Khasi Hills, who chaired the function.
It may be mentioned that according to the National Family Health Survey-3, Meghalaya has a high fertility rate (TFR) of 3.8 as compared to the national figure of 2.7. There is a high unmet need for family planning at 35% which is only 13% for the country.
Meghalaya records lowest use of contraceptive at only 24%. Among all states in India, Meghalaya has the third highest TFR (NFHS-3).
As can be predicted in Meghalaya, the NFHS-3 survey also found that women with no education have a high TFR of 5.2 in comparison to those who have completed ten years and above of education who have a lower TFR of 1.8 (IIPS and Macro International, 2007).
The coverage of full antenatal care for pregnant mothers in Meghalaya is only 11.7 % (Meghalaya Human Development Report, 2008).
In the light of the above a time has come to evaluate the family planning programmes adopted over the years and to also question whether the method of information dissemination has failed to impact the target audience.
Interestingly, several women who attended the ante-natal care clinic said they have never heard of family planning and birth control methods.