EFFECTIVE family planning in Zimbabwe has made it possible for the population to grow in tandem with the country’s resources to cater for its 13 million people, a senior health official said yesterday. Richard Muponde Senior Reporter
Speaking in an interview on the sidelines of an executive committee meeting for finance at the ongoing conference of Partners in Population Development (PPD) in Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe Family Planning Council director, Munyaradzi Murwira said the country’s population growth rate does not strain the resources.
“We made progress in some areas.
“The growth rate should be that which does not strain the country’s resources. Our resources are able to cater for every Zimbabwean because of the effective family planning programme. We don’t restrict people on the number of children they want, but we have managed to conscientise them on the need to have a family they can manage to cater for.
“We managed to reduce the HIV and Aids prevalence through working with the Health and Child Care ministry together with NGOs. This is important on development issues of the country in relation to its population.”
The Health and Child Care ministry is hosting the PPD conference in the resort town. The conference is expected to produce a working plan for the next five years which would be implemented by each member country. Twelve countries out of a membership of 25 developing countries are participating at the conference.
