New Delhi, July 11, 2024.
On the occasion of World Population Day, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, Shri Jagat Prakash Nadda virtually held a meeting with State/UTs in the presence of Union Minister of State for Health and Family Welfare, Smt. Anupriya Patel, here today. The theme of the event was: “Healthy timing & spacing of pregnancies for the wellbeing of mother and child”.
Highlighting that 1/5th of global population is India’s population, he stressed on the need to celebrate World Population Day as a reaffirming and re-commitment to working towards population stabilisation. “The goal of Viksit Bharat can only be achieved when the health of India’s families is well maintained which can be achieved by smaller families”, he stated.
Union Health Minister emphasised that Centre and States need to collectively work to ensure that women can exercise their right to make family planning choices and are not burdened by unwanted pregnancy, and to ensure that unmet needs of contraceptives are met especially in the high burden states, districts and blocks. “The objective of the FP programme needs to be ‘Birth by choice and by informed choice’”, he stated. Highlighting the government’s focus on “securing a brighter, healthier future for all, including youth, adolescents, women, and the elderly”, the Union Health Minister stated, “collaboration is key as we address upcoming responsibilities and recognize family planning and reproductive health as fundamental”. “Promoting healthy timing and spacing between births, achieving optimal family sizes, and empowering voluntary adoption of contraceptive choices are crucial for nurturing healthier and happier families, thereby contributing to our nation’s brighter future”, he stated.
Speaking on “Mission Parivar Vikas” (MPV), one of the successful schemes of the National Family Planning Programme, which was initially launched for 146 High Priority Districts (HPDs) in seven high-focus states, and later expanded to cover all districts in these states and six northeastern states, Shri Nadda emphasized the remarkable impact of the scheme and underlined the significant increase in access to contraceptives in these states and successful reductions in maternal, infant, and under-five mortality rates. “Making districts as the primary focal point of this scheme helped in bringing the TFR down in the entire state. Mission Parivas Vikas has not only contributed to lowering States’ TFR but also helped in the national TFR”, he stated. We need to work towards maintaining low TFR in the States that have already achieved it, and work towards achieving in other States, he added. He cautioned states/UTs against getting complacent in these efforts and encouraged everyone to work towards bringing the TFR to replacement levels across all the regions in the country. “We should also create a strategy based on states’ inputs and NFHS data to focus on those areas where TFR has not improved”, he said.
Shri Nadda also commended the tireless work and dedication of the healthcare and frontline workers and various line departments in reaching the last mile in spreading the messages of family planning and service delivery.
