World Population Day, 2019 – A special day to raise awareness about population
World Population Day is one of the most significant awareness days celebrated annually on the 11th of July. The aim of celebrating the day is to spread awareness about the issues pertaining to the global population and the importance of reproductive health. Each year the UN council dedicates a specific theme to this Day. This year there is no specific theme for World Population Day, but the emphasis will be made on meeting the unmet goals of 1994 International Conference on Population and development which happened in Cairo where 179 governments met and recognized that “reproductive health and gender equality are crucial to achieving sustainable development”.
A brief history
World Population Day was first celebrated in the year 1989 by the Governing Council of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). It was a result of a thought of bringing awareness in the masses as the world population reached to an alarming number of 5 billion on 11th July 1987.
What are the major issues related to the population?
The outgrowing number of people has put a lot of pressure on natural resources and has led to increased pressure on international organizations to raise awareness about the related issues. For a country like India, who is predicted to be the most populated country by the year 2030, family planning is one of the major issues to be considered. As per 2018, World population Day, family planning is a human right and therefore must be practiced by all. Also, there are 9 standards to uphold the human right to family planning which has been mentioned below –
1. Non-discrimination: The information and services related to family planning cannot be restricted on the basis of language, race, sex, religion, national origin, political affiliation, age, place of residence, marital status, economic status, sexual orientation, disability status or gender identity.
2. Accessible: Countries must make sure that family planning supplies and services are easily accessible to everyone.
3. Good quality: The information imparted for family planning must be very clearly communicated and scientifically correct.
4. Available: Every nation must ensure that family planning services and commodities are easily available to everyone.
5. Acceptable: The information and services pertaining to contraceptives must be offered in a manner that respects both recent medical ethics and the cultures of those being referred to.
6. Privacy and confidentiality: Every individual should enjoy the right to privacy while seeking information about family planning.
7. Accountability: Education systems, health systems, leaders and policymakers should be responsible for making people realize that family planning is a human right.
8. Informed decision-making: There should be no pressure on people to make reproductive choices. They must be free to take a decision for themselves.
9. Participation: Countries are obliged to make sure active and informed participation of individuals in decisions that impact them in any manner, including health issues.
A few interesting facts about the Indian population
· As per the recent data, India’s population has reached to 1,332.0 million people in March 2019 as compared to the previously reported figure of 1.316 million people in March 2018.
· The total fertility rate in India can be attributed to 2.33 children born per woman.
· The contraceptive prevalence rate in India is 54.8. This implies that only 54.8 percent of women use contraception methods.
Even though there is no particular theme for the World population Day 2019, family planning still remains a major concern. People must be made aware of the fact that the resources are limited and there is an urgent need to bring down the population graph if the human race has to survive.
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