Due to lack of acquaintance with the family planning system, most of the low wage earners, uneducated and poor people of urban and rural areas, are fighting shy of birth control plans.
Pregnancy rate among the underprivileged and highly educated group is higher than others. Use of birth control pill and injection have been increased in last two decades, but the long-term birth control method is not becoming popular.
Experts forecast that if the present rate continues, the population will be doubled within next 50 years, according to a study of Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics last year.
According to DGFP, around 55 per cent of the countrymen are adopting family planning system currently. But the dropout percentage is 44. That is why the growth of population cannot be controlled.
But the most alarming sign is that only 38 percent girls aged between 15 and 19 are adopting the family planning method.
Programme Manager of the Clinical Service Delivery Programme, Director General of the Department of Family Planning Nurun Nahar Begum Rosie said, “The government has taken scores of initiatives for birth control. But thousands of people are coming in Dhaka every day. Many of them are becoming part of the floating population.”
She also said that some people still believe in superstition. “Even though we are trying… we need to do more in this sector,” she added.
A maternity clinic manager Soheli Akhter said the number of people coming to the clinic for birth control is gradually decreasing.
Monowara Begum, a compounder at the clinic, said that the main reason behind the slow decline in the birth control system in Dhaka is most of the people remain busy with their jobs while garment workers remain busy all day long. They do not have time to listen to us.
She also mentioned that, now no one sees the advertisement on television as no one watches BTV anymore. The number of staff working in the clinic is also decreasing day by day due to low wages.
According to the plan of the Director General of the Family Planning Department, 8 crore 1 lakh 99 thousand 796 birth control plans have been provided to 10 crore 15 lakh 10 thousand 413 couples from January to April this year.
In 2018, out of the 10 crore 88 lakh 27 thousand 370 couples, 8 million 60 lakh 32 thousand have been given birth control methods.
In 2016, there were 10 crore 65 lakh 92 thousand 517 people out of eight crore 26 lakh 93 thousand 167.
However, no information is available on how much services were received by the slum dwellers.
Professor of Population Sciences at Dhaka University AKM Nurunnabi said, the city corporations have a key role in this regard, but there is a lack of coordination.
The adoption rate of contraceptives is actually satisfactory based on our socio-economic situation. However, there are problems in reaching remote areas and slum dwellers, he said.
