Hailakandi
Southern Assam’s Hailakandi district observed the World Population Day 2018 on Wednesday along with the world.
Rallies were brought out to create awareness at the district and block levels.
Flagging off an awareness rally to mark the day, Hailakandi Deputy Commissioner Adil Khan said the United Nations Population Fund wants to underscore urgent issues facing the international community as it marks the World Population Day.
Khan called upon improving access to contraceptives and reproductive health and family planning programmes.
The Deputy Commissioner emphasised on the need to ensure quality family planning services and information easily accessible to women in need.
Mobilisation to raise the level of awareness on birth control coupled with health related issues and services are being organised at the Block Public Health Centres, Community Health Centre, District Hospital and these activities will continue till July 27. “Awareness is being created through rallies at block PHC level, saas-bahu sammelan at sub-centre level, distribution of leaflets, splashing of posters and banners and conducting IPC through ASHAs, ANMs and other health functionaries,” said District Media Expert, Monika Das, adding that laparoscopic sterilisation for female and no scalpel vasectomy for male, besides contraceptives are available right from the block PHCs to district hospital.
Health officials here are of the view that a focused effort is needed to provide information and services to newly married women and post-partum women following the introduction of more contraceptive choices, and an overall emphasis on improving the quality of counselling and follow up care to bring about significant impact not just on fertility, but on the health and empowerment of women.
July 11 was established as World Population Day in 1989 by the United Nations and since then it has been celebrated on this date every year. The United Nations recognises World Population Day as an important event to spread information of population-related issues across the globe.
This year’s theme – ‘Family planning is a human right’ – aims at providing safe, voluntary family planning.
2018 marks the 50th anniversary of the 1968 International Conference on Human Rights, where family planning was, for the first time, globally affirmed to be a human right.
Almost on the verge of completing three decades now, the internationally celebrated event aims to spread awareness on issues such as overpopulation, under-population and birth control. The world population is currently pegged at around 7.5 billion, and census experts predict that by 2030 that number will rise to 8.6 billion – roughly adding 83 million people every year to the planet.
