ISLAMABAD: With Pakistan`s population growing by more than 3pe, the World Bank on Thursday announced that its board of executive directors approved $100m financing for the Punjab Family Planning Programme to increase the utilisation of family planning services.

`This important program(me) aims to achieve universal access to reproductive healthcare and to raise the usage of family planning methods in Punjab to 60 percent by 2030,` said Najy Benhassine, World Bank country director for Pakistan.

`This is critical for Pakistan`s development, as excessive population growth rates hampers development, slows the accumulation of human capital, and contributes tokeeping families in poverty,` he said.

The Punjab Family Planning Programme will provide timely access to quality family planning services free of charge. It will also institutionalise quality of care across the family planning services delivery system and support public information and advocacy campaigns so that more families are made aware of the benefits of family planning.

The programme will scale up innovations, such as clinical franchising, voucher schemes, and family planning counseling through community leaders, which have been piloted in different districts of Punjab and have shown improvements in family planning outcomes. Through an extensive network of lady health workers, family welfare workers and community health workers that are linked to health facilities, family health clinics and family welfare centres, the programmme will reach areas andcommunities that have limited or no access to family planning services.

The programme will also increase social marketing, male and community leaders` engagement and youth platforms for increasing utilisation of family planning services. It will also improve the interpersonal communication skills of family planning service providers.

The family planning programme would be implemented in all districts through the service delivery networks of the Population Welfare Department and the Primary and Secondary Healthcare Department, the two project implementing agencies. It uses the Programme-for-Results (PforR) financing instrument which links disbursement of funds directly to the achievement of specific programme results.

The Central Development Working Party (CDWP) had approved the project in May thisyear to secure World Bank funding to achieve aggressive targets like reducing the total fertility rate (TFR)from 3.4 to 2.5pc and decreasing unmet need from 17 to 7pc till 2027.

According to the Punjab government, global evidence shows a well-organised family planning with substantial information, education, and communication element can reduce fertility by 1.5 births per woman and family planning goes a long way in stalling population growth and forming quality human capital by saving lives of both mothers and children and result in long-term health and economic benefits by averting cost-related to antenatal, delivery and post-abortion care.

The project`s primary goal is to enhance CPR to 45pc and ensure that four million additional women in Punjab have access to effective family planning information and services by the year 2025 and thus mini-mise unintended pregnancies. The CPR in the province is estimated at about 27pc at present, which is reported to have actually declined in recent years from over 29pc.

The project aims to ensure within 5 years that 70pc of facilities have the availability of required mix of contraceptives, modern CPR is increased by 1.5pc points per year and 60pc family planning users should receive appropriate counseling.

Of the $100m, more than $19m is targeted for spending on strengthening of procurement and management of family planning commodities through various management information systems, $34m on improvement in use of modern contraceptives and quality care and a much larger part of $38m on social marketing and private sector involvement for advocacy campaigns. The project also involves launching a voucher scheme for BISP beneficiary families.mise unintended pregnancies. The CPR in the province is estimated at about 27pc at present, which is reported to have actually declined in recent years from over 29pc.

The project aims to ensure within 5 years that 70pc of facilities have the availability of required mix of contraceptives, modern CPR is increased by 1.5pc points per year and 60pc family planning users should receive appropriate counseling.

Of the $100m, more than $19m is targeted for spending on strengthening of procurement and management of family planning commodities through various management information systems, $34m on improvement in use of modern contraceptives and quality care and a much larger part of $38m on social marketing and private sector involvement for advocacy campaigns. The project also involves launching a voucher scheme for BISP beneficiary families.