Ghazala Mahmud,
Saba Fatima

The government of Pakistan needs to “Reposition Family Planning Program” in a way that Family Plan-ning program should, in addition to promoting contraceptive methods, include Family Planning as a ma-ternal and newborn health intervention, women empowerment and sexual and reproductive health of ad-olescents, youth and couples.
It is, however, necessary to adopt a multi-sectoral approach involving not only the Government and med-ical professionals but also the civil societies, NGOs and the private sector to address the family planning package. Perhaps the government can take the lead in coordinating and facilitating the potential activities that need to be implemented in an integrated manner. The research institutions should carry out research on the intricate relationships of the various issues pertaining to the new approach.
Problem arises when births are too many or too close together or when pregnancies occur in women who are too young or too old. So the solution is to AVOID “Too close together births through optimal birth spacing interval”.¹
Situation Analysis
Problems in Pakistan
Pakistan is the 6th most populous country of the world and ranks 3rd in Asia. Maternal mortality rate of Pakistan varies between 300-500/100,000 live births and neonatal mortality rate of 57/1,000 live births. More than 20,000 women die each year due to pregnancy related complications.2 The contraceptive prevalence rate of Pakistan in year 2006 was 36, one of the lowest in the region.
Amongst married women of reproductive age (MWRA) approximately 1 out of 3 births are spaced < 2 years apart. Among mothers between 15 and 19 years old, 60% births are spaced < 2 years apart. Birth-to-pregnancy intervals have become shorter over the last 6 years. The desire to space pregnancies is > 20% among married women which is increasing.³