KB fails to curb birth rate

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Sat, 06/21/2008 12:22 PM  |  National

The government-endorsed Keluarga Berencana (family planning) program has failed to curb the fertility rate in the past few years, as many poor couples choose not to use contraception, an official says.

National Family Planning Coordinating Board (BKKBN) head, Sugiri Syarief, said Friday that the results of the family planning program were still far from ideal.

"The 2002 fertility rate was 2.6 (children) and the rate remained the same five years later, according to the Central Statistics Agency. The rate was still far from our target of 2.2," he said.

"The program has shown no progress. It did not successfully curb the population growth. The population growth between 2002 and 2007 was 1.3 percent."

Sugiri said most poor families, especially those living in rural areas, had not participated in the program.

"Poor families actually have awareness about the importance of family planning. However, they tend to have many children as they can't afford contraception.

"We realized we haven't provided enough service to the poor because we are short of officials to promote the program," he said, adding that the number of family planning program participants only increased by 1.1 percent in 2007, from 60 percent in 2002," he said.

Controlling the birthrate through the family planning program has been considered to be the most effective way to manage the country's population growth.

The government, however, still faces many obstacles in running the program. Through research it has found most men, especially those from lower-income groups, lack information about the need to use contraception. They also believe birth control is the responsibility of their wives.

Studies have also found many men are reluctant to use condoms, and find them uncomfortable to use despite being available for free in community health centers across the country.

Sugiri said it was difficult to change people's perceptions about contraception methods.

"We will promote our upcoming program to change their perceptions and behavior regarding contraception. We will cooperate with local community and religious leaders because people tend to obey what they say," he said.

He added the government will allocate about Rp 1.6 trillion (US$173 million) to promote a family planning program for poor people in urban areas.

"Next year, BKKBN will provide 33 mobile clinics for poor families, including squatters, in 33 provinces. We will also provide door-to-door services for them," he said.

BKKBN will recruit 10,000 officials to run the program.

The director general of the cultural and social empowerment at the Home Ministry, Persadan Girsang, said the government should cooperate with city administrations in running the program. (trw)

Copyright © 2008 The Jakarta Post - PT Bina Media Tenggara. All Rights Reserved.