{"id":4760,"date":"2025-07-10T13:56:04","date_gmt":"2025-07-10T13:56:04","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/07\/10\/pakistan-population-crisis-2025\/"},"modified":"2025-07-10T14:01:07","modified_gmt":"2025-07-10T14:01:07","slug":"pakistan-population-crisis-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/2025\/07\/10\/pakistan-population-crisis-2025\/","title":{"rendered":"Pakistan Population Crisis Addressed with Urgent National Actions"},"content":{"rendered":"

World Population Day 2025: Health Minister Mustafa Kamal Issues National Call to Action Amid Alarming Growth Trends<\/strong><\/p>\n

Islamabad: <\/b>In a landmark address marking World Population Day 2025, Federal Minister for Health Syed Mustafa Kamal delivered a powerful and comprehensive speech highlighting the gravity of Pakistan\u2019s population crisis and calling for unified, cross-sectoral reforms to secure the country\u2019s future. The high-level national event, organized by the Ministry of National Health Services, brought together senior political leaders, religious scholars, federal ministers, and international partners in Islamabad to address the multifaceted challenges of population growth.\"\"<\/p>\n

Minister Kamal began by affirming that the population issue is not a partisan or political concern, but a matter of national survival. Stressing the importance of collective ownership, he personally invited leaders from all political parties to participate in the event. He emphasized that such a challenge cannot be tackled by a single ministry, party, or province\u2014it requires national unity.<\/p>\n

The minister cited alarming statistics: Pakistan\u2019s fertility rate stands at 3.6\u2014the highest in the region\u2014and the population is growing by 2.5% annually, adding over 6 million people every year. “That\u2019s more than the entire population of New Zealand being added to our country each year,” he said. \u201cWe don\u2019t have the resources to support those who are already here\u2014how can we possibly accommodate millions more?\u201d<\/p>\n

Linking demographic pressures to real-world consequences, Kamal drew attention to over 25 million children currently out of school, a healthcare system on the brink of collapse, and 40% of children suffering from stunted growth and malnutrition. “Our hospitals resemble political rallies,” he observed. “Doctors face queues of 250 patients a day when they are only meant to see 30 to 35.”<\/p>\n

He challenged the very foundations of Pakistan\u2019s health framework, stating that the country operates a “sick care system” rather than a true health care system. Preventive medicine, he argued, has been neglected, with waterborne diseases being the most devastating result. “Sixty-eight percent of our diseases stem from unsafe water,” he said. \u201cWe flush our sewage away without treatment, and it ends up in our drinking water. From Gilgit-Baltistan to Karachi, the sewage system is broken. We are making our own children sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

The minister further criticized the financial incentives embedded in Pakistan\u2019s National Finance Commission (NFC) Award, which allocates 82% of funds based on population. This, he said, creates a harmful incentive for provinces to increase their population counts. Kamal proposed a restructured formula\u201450% based on population and the remaining 32% allocated as an incentive to provinces that successfully reduce fertility rates. This idea was echoed and expanded upon by Federal Minister for Planning Ahsan Iqbal, who announced a new high-level Steering Committee to revisit population parameters within the NFC framework.<\/p>\n

Reaffirming his ministry\u2019s commitment to accessible family planning, Kamal called for the removal of the 18% GST on contraceptive products and encouraged local manufacturing to ensure availability and affordability. “Families want to plan\u2014but they need access. We must act decisively to remove these barriers.”<\/p>\n

The event also highlighted strong religious endorsement for responsible family planning. Renowned Islamic scholar Mufti Zubair clarified that Islamic teachings support protecting maternal and child health through planned parenting. \u201cThis is not against religion. It is in line with Islam\u2019s values of mercy, responsibility, and health.\u201d<\/p>\n

Finance Minister Muhammad Aurangzeb stressed that population growth undermines national resources, economic development, and social equity. He committed to integrating demographic factors into fiscal planning. Speaker of the National Assembly Raja Pervaiz Ashraf commended the Ministry\u2019s efforts and called for a multi-party legislative response. Senior political leader Khursheed Shah urged Pakistan to learn from countries like Bangladesh, where effective population control has boosted economic and educational outcomes.<\/p>\n

UNFPA Country Representative Luay Shabaneh pledged international support for Pakistan\u2019s reproductive health and family planning programs, while KP representative Liaqat Ali Khan proposed a dedicated Population Fund and urged enhanced demographic planning up to 2050.<\/p>\n

Dr. Tariq Fazal Chaudhary, Minister for Parliamentary Affairs, called for greater investment in youth, infrastructure, and civic development, highlighting the opportunity presented by Pakistan\u2019s demographic dividend\u2014if managed wisely.<\/p>\n

In his concluding remarks, Kamal reiterated that Pakistan\u2019s future depends on how it responds to this urgent crisis. “No economic plan, no development framework, no government can function if we don\u2019t control this. We must act now.”<\/p>\n

The event closed with the Health Secretary\u2019s commitment to evidence-based, inclusive, and sustained strategies, affirming that managing population growth is not only a development priority\u2014it is a national imperative.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

World Population Day 2025: Health Minister Mustafa Kamal Issues National Call to Action Amid Alarming Growth Trends Islamabad: In a landmark address marking World Population Day 2025, Federal Minister for Health Syed Mustafa Kamal delivered a powerful and comprehensive speech highlighting the gravity of Pakistan\u2019s population crisis and calling for unified, cross-sectoral reforms to secure …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7,"featured_media":4763,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-4760","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-health-education"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=4760"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":4765,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/4760\/revisions\/4765"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/4763"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=4760"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=4760"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.peakpoint.pk\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=4760"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}