Health and Family Welfare Minister Sardar Md Sakhawat Husain has announced a nationwide family planning campaign from December 1 to encourage people to limit family size.
Speaking to reporters at his office on Wednesday, the minister said the month-long awareness campaign would be conducted under the slogan, “No more than 2 children, one is better.”
The campaign will include rallies, fairs and various awareness programs across the country. Essential family planning supplies will also be delivered to households, he said.
“We will not just talk about it. We will also supply all the necessary materials. Tablets, contraceptives, pads—whatever is needed for family planning will be delivered to households,” the minister said.
He said the director general of the Directorate General of Family Planning and other officials concerned had been working over the past few days to prepare an implementation plan for the campaign.
Various programs will be organized at the district level to encourage people to adopt family planning practices, he added.
The minister said government spending must follow specific rules and procedures, which often takes time. As a result, many planned activities could not be implemented in the past.
“Work has now started afresh, and visible progress will be seen from the beginning of next year,” he said.
Describing family planning as one of the weaker areas of the country’s health sector, Sakhawat said the sector had failed to make the expected progress.
He also said there were several challenges to reducing the country’s birth rate.
