Family Planning in Pakistan 1955-1977: A Review

There is a general feeling that the population planning programme in Pakistan has reached a critical turning point. Despite almost 20 years of vigorous effort and the expenditure of about one billion rupees and some 70 million U.S. dollars, family planning has achieved no tangible decrease in fertility rates. Pakistan has a population of about 75 million today and this is expected to double by the year 2000. To put the matter quite bluntly, the family planning effort has not succeeded. Discouragement, disillusionment and recrimination threaten to replace the earlier enthusiasm and optimism among supporters of the programme. But while such emotional reactions are understandable they are not helpful. What will be useful is a careful review of these years of experience to learn whatever is there to be learned, for population planning in Pakistan will go on.