Director, National Population Commission (NPC) in Ebonyi State, Mr. Lawrence Nweke, has urged child bearing couples to adopt child spacing policy of the government in order to maintain a healthy family.
Nweke made the call in an interview, on Tuesday, in Abakaliki.
He explained that proper child spacing would guarantee better healthy living for the family, reduce financial strain as well as ensure that the mother was in good health condition before becoming pregnant again.
He said that infant and maternal mortality would greatly reduce and life expectancy increase if couples adopt proper family planning.
He said that population was becoming issue of concern globally, adding that concerted efforts were being made to tackle the phenomenon.
“July 11 every year is celebrated as World Population Day and it is a day set aside to reflect on problems and challenges posed by rising human population and Nigeria is joining the rest of the world to celebrate.
“The theme of the 2017 celebration is “Family Planning, Birth Spacing, Empowering People and Developing the Nation.
“People must embrace the new order because family planning and birth spacing are needed for effective birth control for an enhanced national strategic planning for accelerated economic growth and development.
“Efficient population growth control, will reduce cost of running education at the primary, secondary and post-secondary levels, whose infrastructural facilities are being overstretched.
“It will enable governments to utilise scarce resources to provide affordable health care services by equipping the primary, secondary and tertiary health institutions, as well as generate jobs,” Nweke said.
He called on traditional rulers, religious and opinion leaders to sensitise their members and adherents on the dangers of bearing more children than one could care for.
“Couples who are still bearing children should give at least two years interval before going for another pregnancy and they must learn to use government approved contraceptives to control child bearing.
“Traditional rulers religious and opinion leaders must join hands with government and non-governmental organisations championing the campaign in sensitising their subjects and adherents to imbibe the new order, ” he added
Nweke said that churches and women groups should be mobilised to educate their members on importance and advantages of family planning, birth and death registrations.
“The population of Ebonyi from the 2006 census figure is put at 2.017 million people, but is currently estimated at 2.189 million, hence conscious effort must be made to control population growth in the state,” he added. (NAN)