India Demonstrated Tremendous Progress In Maternal, Child Health: Nadda On World Population Day

Calling for achieving the family planning goals, Union Health Minister JP Nadda on the occasion of World Population Day on Thursday said that India has demonstrated tremendous progress in maternal and child health.

Highlighting the success of India’s family planning programme, the Union Health Minister in a blog post, said, “Millennial women in India are opting for smaller families, averaging just two children each” — a shift in trend from the past decade. He said that 57 per cent in their reproductive age (15 to 49 years) have actively used modern contraception”.

“India has demonstrated tremendous progress on the ground through improved family planning services and dramatically improving health outcomes, especially maternal health and child health,” he said.

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Nadda voiced his opinion saying that family planning empowers women, girls, and youth as it provide them right and choice.

While “India has already achieved replacement level of fertility at National level (TFR 2.0) and 31 States/UTs have already achieved this milestone as per NFHS-5 (2019-21) constituting a success story in its journey”… the aim is to “maintain and achieve this both nationally and sub-nationally”.

He stressed the need for “healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy for the health and well-being of mother and child.”

Nadda on world Population Day also noted that a range of reversible contemporary contraceptives, including condoms, injectable contraceptives, oral pills, and intrauterine devices, are already available under the National Planning program.