Punjab Minister for Population Welfare Col (Retd) Hashim Dogar has said keeping a space among birth of children through family planning is mandatory for the health of mother and child both.
He was speaking at an event organized by the population council on subject “Testing an innovative model for improving access to Family Planning services for the marginalized from Rahim Yar Khan, Punjab”.
Titled “Karain ge Zindagi Asian”, the voucher scheme was designed to provide free FP services and reimbursement for transportation costs to poor women reaching and returning to an appropriate facility in their areas. The innovation in the model was its reliance on mobile technology for data exchange and transactions. A special mobile application was used by service providers to register beneficiaries. Overall, the voucher scheme served 21,165 BISP beneficiaries in RY Khan. Resultantly, 6 % increase in Contraceptive Prevalence Rate was recorded, unmet need for modern contraception decreased from 10.7 to 6.5%.
Addressing the participants, Col. (Retd) Hashim Dogar said that various programs like this voucher scheme have been initiated during last three years. A pilot project engaging ulema and Khateebs to influence people for birth spacing.
He said that in first phase this project has been introduced in 10 districts of Punjab and is being strictly monitored. Today, if we did not play our role to check this growth of population, then we will be answerable to our next generations, he added.
