At the rate of 1.5% per year, the global population is increasing. In less than 50 years, the number of people who live on this planet will double up. Modern medical techniques are laying emphasis on increasing the life of a human being, but on healthy life. It has now increased the number of sick aged people globally. The earth’s ability to sustain human life is also a serious question. The resources are finite and increasing population is making the situation worse. To control population, many countries are making efforts in their own ways.
The United Nations Population Information Network organised an International Conference of Parliamentarians on Population and Development in 1994 in Cairo. It was realised that population growth should be stabilized. It was also determined that the root cause of the problem should be addressed. Women’s access to healthcare and education needs to be improved.
Today more than 50% of the developing countries have population policies. For a number of years China has operated a one-child policy. It vastly helped in reducing pregnancy related fatalities. Women also receive free contraception at family planning offices. India operates a two- child policy but there are no strict measures taken to implement the same. India has increased its food production to sustain a large population. India’s recent approach includes women empowerment and education. Kenya is the first country in sub-saharan Africa to develop a national family planning campaign. Kenya’s national population policy is based on matching population size with available resources.
Population policies have helped developing countries to manage economic problems very effectively. Different countries have different population policies. By implementing the one-child policy, China has been able to achieve the objective of population control. Also improving women’s access to education has helped in population control. For developing countries like India, a stricter policy needs to be implemented. Keeping in mind that earth’s resources are finite, population control policies are necessary and imperative.