Title: Mixed results mark Asian family planning. China and India must increase the reach of their family-planning programs, reports say.

POPLINE Document Number: 076031

Author(s):

Moffett GD 3d

Source citation:

CHRISTIAN SCIENCE MONITOR, 1992 Sep 15;84(205):5.

Abstract:

Western nations view China as a nation that coerces couples to have only 1 child. Yet the average rural family still has almost 3 children. In India, rapid population growth motivated the government to develop a model plan to limit very high fertility, but it has not yet executed the plan. Under present conditions, the population growth in India will be greater than that of China. Nevertheless if China and India do not make considerable strides to improve their family planning (FP) programs soon, the likelihood of stabilizing the world population at a tolerable level is grim. In fact, today's population size of 5 billion people could grow 4 times by 2099. In 1971, China began its FP program which promoted delayed marriage, smaller families, and more contraceptive use, and mean family size fell by >50%. Despite this success and the 1-child policy, FP services are not accessible to 10s of millions of rural Chinese couples. Those services that do exist have undertrained workers. The demands created by the highly ambitious goals of the 1-child policy hamper their efforts. The situation is more grave in India where the government has only recently admitted its problem with population growth. It promotes an FP method preferred by women who already have many children--female sterilization. The years of government inaction have caused sizeable malnutrition. 2 Indian states have been able to achieve low fertility, however, by improving access to education for females and elevating women's status. The US and other nations should offer more aid to India and China to improve their FP services. Even though both countries do have comprehensive FP networks, poorly trained staff, limited contraceptive choice, and insufficient counseling keep the infrastructure from being effective. Population specialists advise India to pattern the strong support the Chinese government has give to FP.

Keywords:

China
India
United States
Critique
Family Planning Programs
Rural Population
Population Growth
One Child Policy
Program Accessibility
Female Sterilization
Educational Status
Women's Status
Obstacles
Women
Developing Countries
Asia, Eastern
Asia
Asia, Southern
Developed Countries
North America
Americas
Family Planning
Programs
Organization and Administration
Population Characteristics
Demographic Factors
Population
Population Dynamics
Antinatalist Policy
Population Policy
Social Policy
Policy
Program Evaluation
Sterilization, Sexual
Socioeconomic Status
Socioeconomic Factors
Economic Factors