WORLDCUP NEWS PAPERS: 2011

Population Policy
BANGLADESH POPULATION POLICY

PREAMBLE:

Socio-economic development for all citizens is the cornerstone of Bangladesh’s Constitution. According to the articles 15-18 in part II of the Constitution, the State has the responsibility to ensure to its citizens certain basic needs such as health, education, food, security etc. In order to translate these constitutional aims into reality, Government needs to pursue several public policies, including a long-term policy for population and development. Realizing the importance of such a policy, the Government prepared a Population Policy Outline in 1976 in which high population growth rate was identified as the nation’s “number one problem”.

Since then, the above policy emphasis has been reflected in all successive 5-year plans and programmes. Notwithstanding the success in reducing the population growth rate from 3 percent in mid 70s to 1.4 percent by the year 2000, the work on creating conducive environment and opportunities for improved quality of life for the masses still remains to be fully realized. Population density of 880 persons per square kilometer is one of the highest in the world. Population growth continues to constrain efforts to uplift the standard of living of the people. Some of the population and development problems in this context include deforestation and reduction of cultivable land, onset of desertification, air, and water pollution, scarcity of drinking water, inadequate shelter, unemployment, malnutrition and slow pace of progress in health and education sectors.

The size of Bangladesh population currently (2002) stands at about 132 million. Each year an additional two million people augment this population size. There is an urgent need to adopt a national policy geared towards stabilization of population by way of accelerated reduction of growth rate. This objective is to be realized with due sensitivity to our tradition and culture, by upholding human rights and by adhering to our commitments made at the International Conferences on Education in Jomtien in 1993, Population and Development (ICPD) in 1994, Women and Children in Beijing in 1995 and other relevant international foram.

RATIONALE FOR POPULTION POLICY:

The size of Bangladesh’s present population of 132 million is likely to grow up to 172 million by the year 2020 and stabilize at or below 210 million by the year 2060, even if replacement level fertility (i.e. NRR=1) is achieved by the year 2010. However, if it is delayed by another 10 years i.e. up to 2020, population will be stabilized 25 years later (i.e. 2085) at 250 million. This would place severe stress on the national resources and constrain the efforts to improve the living standards of the people. Population stabilization is, therefore, an urgent national priority. Through the medium of this Population Policy, Bangladesh expects to achieve the demographic goal by the stipulated time.

Factors that influence population stabilization efforts are, however, spread across the work of several ministries such as Health, Education, Labour and Employment, Social Welfare, Women and Children’s Affairs, Youth, Sports and Cultural Affairs, Rural Development and Cooperatives, Planning etc. The population growth momentum is already underway owing to a large base of young age population. But some of the momentum effect can be thwarted in the long run by pursuing both population influencing and responsive policies through these ministries. Hence, the Population Policy aims to develop coordination and synergy among them.

MAJOR OBJECTIVES:

The national population policy aims at improving the overall standard of living of the people of Bangladesh through improved reproductive health reproductive health status and reduction of population growth rate. Specific attention will be given to under-served areas and vulnerable population groups. Taking into cognizance the relationship between population and development, the following major objectives have been formulated in order to address the future challenges in the area of population growth and economic development :
• To attain Net Reproductive Rate (NRR) equal to one by the year 2010 in order to stabilize the population size by 2060. One of the means to achieve this objective is to provide people at all levels of the society quality reproductive health and family welfare services that are affordable and accessible to rural and urban poor;
• To address the causes of maternal mortality including unsafe abortion and reduce infant mortality rate by adequately providing quality antenatal delivery and post-natal services, emergency obstetrics care where necessary and safe delivery practices;
• To reduce child mortality, disability and blindness through the provision of child immunization supply of Vitamin ‘A’; and other micro-nutrients;
• To ensure population development linkages and participation of different ministries in implementing population related activities;
• To encourage and motivate adolescent girls who have gone through early marriages in implementing population related activities;
• To encourage and motivate adolescent girls who have gone through early marriage not to conceive before attaining the age of 20 years;
• To develop human resources with the required skills through higher education and training of officials of various levels associated with the health and population activities. To undertake, on an urgent basis, necessary steps to ensure that trained and skilled health and family welfare workers attend up to 50 per cent of birth by the year 2005, and up to 100 per cent by the year 2010;
• To ensure people’s right of free access to information relating to reproductive health education and associated facilities; to change people’s attitude and approach through proper communication strategies, and to create demand for services through awareness building campaigns;
• To ensure gender equity and empowerment of women through enhanced opportunities in the area of general and vocational education and by creating employment and self employment opportunities for them;
• To provide nutritional knowledge to prevent malnutrition, to ensure food security for destitute women;
• To reduce influx of population from rural to urban areas; and encourage planned urban development; and
• To ensure conductive environment for better living and public health facilities including arsenic free water.

IMPLEMENTATION STRATEGIES:

In order to achieve the major objectives mentioned above, seven broad implementation strategies will be adopted. These include: ensuring provision of quality RH-FP services that respond to client needs, strengthening population and development linkages, reducing gender discrimination in the provision of services and giving priority to the needs of poorer sections of the population, especially destitute women and children. In addition, public policies relating to health, education, employment, environment, migration and urbanization, food and nutrition etc. shall have to incorporate population factors in order to make the society conscious od population problems and implications at the household and societal levels. All conceivable means, including mass media and inter-personal communication will be used to disseminate the small family norm. Population and reproductive health education shall be introduced in the formal school system and sectoral training institutions. The proposed strategies are:

4.1.1 To ensure essential RH-services including family planning through a comprehensive client centered approach. These services can be provided along with health services at Upazila and Union levels. Union level Family Welfare Centres will be established wherever needed and a doctor will be appointed in these centres in a phased manner;

4.1.2 To ensure provision of essential RH-FP services at one-stop service and home delivery system. This will help to improve quality of services and reduce discontinuation of contraceptive use. It will also make services accessible to the poor;

4.1.3 To ensure supply of required medicines and equipment to all the service centers and strengthen the contraceptive security system so that clients may not suffer from any shortage of supply;

4.1.4 To raise awareness amongst high-risk population groups by ensuring access to essential information and services in order to prevent STD, RTI, and HIV/AIDS infection; and

4.1.5 To ensure opportunity and freedom to choose contraceptive methods according to individual needs and preference.

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