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World Population Day to be celebrated on Saturday

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The World Population Day 2020 will be celebrated across the country as elsewhere of the world on Saturday with an aim to draw global attention on the importance of population issues.

But, due to ongoing coronavirus pandemic, only online discussion will be arranged in the country as no special programme will be taken, reports BSS.

The theme of the day this year is “safeguarding the health and rights of women and girls around the world especially during COVID-19 pandemic”.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina issued separate massages marking the day urging all concerned to make family planning services easily accessible to the people and ensuring human right.

The President said the whole world, including Bangladesh, is in turmoil due to COVID-19.

In this context, it is necessary to ensure environment friendly and optimal use of the existing resources by keeping the population at the desired level, he said.

He added that the population must be turned into human resources as a planned and skilled population is needed for sustainable development.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina called upon all concerned to ensure the optimum utilisation of service infrastructures at the grassroots for reproductive healthcare, family planning, maternal and child healthcare services.

She said inspired by the ideals of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the government has made groundbreaking changes in the health sector since the formation of the government in 1996.

 “We have set up 10,723 community clinics to bring healthcare to the doorsteps of the people, and formulated the Health Policy-2000,” the premier added.

She said the people of the country are reaping the benefits of the multifaceted steps taken in the country’s health and family planning sector as the government has been in the power for eleven and a half consecutive years since 2009.

Both the president and the premier wished overall success of the World Population Day 2020.

The world population day was decided to be celebrated in 90 countries of the world for the first time on July 11 in 1990.

A recent UNFPA research highlighted that if the lockdown continues for 6 months, and there is major disruption to health services, then 47 million women in low and middle income countries might not have access to modern contraceptives.

This would in turn lead to 7 million unintended pregnancies. Apart from that, the world can see a rise in gender-based violence, female genital mutilation and child marriages.

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