LAHORE: Punjab Minister for Population Welfare Col (retd) Hashim Dogar Monday said that birth spacing was crucial for better health of mother and child both.
He said this while addressing a ceremony, organised by the Population Council on the subject of “Testing an innovative model for improving access to family planning services for the marginalised from Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab”, said a news release here.
The provincial minister said that improvement could only be made through family planning, adding that the voucher scheme named “Karain Ge Zindagi Aasan” was designed to provide free services and reimbursement for transportation costs to the poor women reaching and returning from an appropriate facility in their areas.
He said that a special mobile application was used by service providers to register beneficiaries, adding that overall the voucher scheme served 21, 165 Benazir Income Support Programme (BISP) beneficiaries in Rahim Yar Khan. Resultantly, 6 per cent increase in Contraceptive Prevalence Rate was recorded, unmet need for modern contraception decreased from 10.7 to 6.5pc.
The minister said that various programs like the voucher scheme had been initiated during the last three years, adding that a pilot project engaging ulema and Khateebs to influence people for birth spacing had been introduced in 10 districts of Punjab. “Today, if we did not play our role to check the growth of population, then we will be answerable to our next generations, ” he added.
Provincial ministers for health and finance — Dr Yasmin Rashid and Makhdoom Hashim Jawan Bakht — also attended the event.