The Secretary, Ministry of Health & Family Welfare, Government of India, in association with Jansankhya Sthirta Kosh organised a walkathon for population stabilisation on the occasion of World Population Day. A group of more than 500 people, including children, participated in a walkathon in the capital to spread awareness on the urgency and importance of population issues.
Naveen Jindal, Member of Parliament and industrialist and Syeda Hameed, Member, Planning Commission , flagged off the walkathon at the India Gate in presence of Keshav Desiraju, Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, Government of India.
Naveen Jindal said, “There is a urgent need of collective action for the improved reproductive health for the people of India. Through this walkathon we aim to raise awareness and address RH needs of the people, including the needs for healthy mothers and planned families to achieve population stabilisation.”
The population of India is equal to the combined population of six countries US (30.9 crore), Indonesia (23.8 crore), Brazil (19.1 crore), Pakistan (18.5 crore), Bangladesh (16.4 crore) and Japan (12.8 crore), which are in the list of top 10 populous countries in the world.
Immediate steps recommended to control and balance population are
- Repositioning family planning
- Reducing infant (and neonatal) mortality
- Increasing age at marriage and delaying first child
- Promoting better spacing
- Improving access to and quality of increased basket of contraceptives and reproductive health services
- Ending discrimination against the girl child
EH News Bureau