Indian delegates affirm that greater investment in family planning is a must for improving country’s health, development and economic outcomes at International Conference of Family Planning in Bali
The Government of India will promote birth spacing by expanding choice of contraceptives and improving the quality of care and services, said JP Nadda, Union Minister of Health and Family Welfare, at the Fourth International Conference of Family Planning (ICFP) in Bali. So far the Indian government has been focused on female sterilisation in a big way.
The minister also reiterated the Government of India’s commitment to meeting the FP2020 goals and called upon civil society to work together with the government to accelerate the progress on achieving the goals.
The Additional Secretary, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, CK Misra said, “The Government of India is committed to allocating increased resources as required to achieve the family planning objectives. The Government is conscious of state wise inequities and is working to address these.”
The meeting organised by Population Foundation of India (PFI), brought together political leaders, policy makers, programme managers and implementers, and donors on a common platform to deliberate India’s strategies for meeting FP2020 commitments and attaining the new Sustainable Development Goals. The commitments include improving quality of care and expanding contraceptive choices available to Indians.
Speaking on the occasion, PFI Executive Director, Poonam Muttreja, congratulated the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare for taking a bold and timely step to expand contraceptive choice by introducing injectables in the public health system, laying down new guidelines for improving quality of care and providing training to health workers. She also pointed out that while increasing contraceptive use there must not be a compromise on quality of care. She called for incentivising quality of care, instead of targets achieved.
The other key Indian dignitaries at the conference included PD Rai and Dr Sanjay Jaiswal, both Members of Parliament; and Dr SK Sikdar, Deputy Commissioner, Family Planning, Ministry of Health and Family Welfare.
Comments are closed.