COURSE NAME: ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES FOR
UNDERGRADUATES FOR ALL COURSES
PAPER TITLE: ENVIRONMENTAL STUDIES FOR
UNDERGRADUATES
UNIT: 7 – HUMAN POPULATION AND THE ENVIRONMENT
TOPIC: POPULATION EXPLOSION – FAMILY
WELFARE
PROGRAMME
OBJECTIVE: At the end of this article we would be able to answer the following
questions:1. Develop an understanding about population explosion
2. Develop an awareness among the common people about its
impact on environment, energy and human being
3. Identify the regulatory controls of population by the government.
4. Describe public awareness and economic incentive possibilities.
5. Understand the tools Family planning welfare.
INTRODUCTION
In the history, infant and childhood deaths and short life spans used to limit
population growth. On the contrary in today's world, thanks to improved
nutrition, sanitation, and medical care, more babies survive their first few
years of life. The combination of a continuing high birth rate and a low death
rate is creating a rapid population increase in many countries and people
generally lived longer. When we talk of population explosion, population
bomb or over- population is defined as the condition of having more people
than can live on the earth in comfort, happiness and health and still leave the
world a fit place for future generations. It took the entire history of humankind
for the population to reach 1 billion around 1810. Just 120 years later, this
doubled to 2 billion people (1930). Concern about overpopulation is relatively
recent in origin. Until recently, birth rates and death rates were about the
same, keeping the population stable. People had many children, but a large
number of them died before age five. During the Industrial Revolution, where
there were great advances in science and technology, the success in
reducing death rates.
Population explosion is the biggest problem for our nation. it is the biggest
concern to us and main reason for increasing population of a nation is a
reduce maternal morbidity and mortality i.e. less and less number of mother
are sick or dying because of delivery problems, pregnancy problems, then
even mortality rate is reducing, parental mortality means death of new born
children, young children. Now the rate is reducing its on reducing line.
Another problem is more number of people surviving in the society, more
number of elderly people they are surviving in the society and all this credit.
it’s a good sign that all this rates are reducing and the credit goes to the
good health facilities, good equipments, good training facilities, good training
of doctors available in our country that makes our society healthy, even
better drugs are available, better antibiotics are available, so this factor they
add to the better survival of people in our nation and healthy population.
Several factors which attributes to the reduction in death rate or increase in
birth rate leading to population explosion are: (1) in-creases in food
production and distribution: First Green Revolution in 1960 produced large
amount of food.
(2) Improvement in public health due to accessibility of clean drinking water
and also hygienic sanitation facilities were made available.
(3) High advancement in medical technology (vaccines and antibiotics),
which helped children and people to survive many diseases and cured
deadly germs which once use to kill them
(4) Gains in education and standards of living are also an important factor
leading to over population as it improved the quality of life of most of the
people.
(5) Immigration to better developed countries due to several reasons like
better job opportunities, war, and natural causes like hurricanes,
earthquakes, and so forth.
(6) In developing countries like India their religious belief faith and also the
demand of male infant played a major in increasing the population.
In many societies still are come across people who just gone producing
children in want of a male child. may be many number of girl child are born
for expectation of one male child and this type of family that only a male child
con take their family name and can make their family ready a happy family is
a wrong nation and i think doctor as well as social worker and people around
they should educate this families and this society. especially their
dharmaguru what we call they should stress on this point that female child is
equally important as a male child and they should not really bother about
male or female but just limit the no. of children in a family so that both may
be male or female both are given better education and better health care.
Problems with Over Population :
Whatever may be the factor population explosion is associated with many
problems creating havoc especially in countries like India and Pakistan.
Some problems associated with or exacerbated by human overpopulation:
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Inadequate fresh water for drinking water use as well as sewage
treatment and effluent discharge. Some countries, like Saudi Arabia,
use energy-expensive desalination to solve the problem of water
shortages.
Depletion of natural resources, especially fossil fuels
Increased levels of air pollution, water pollution, soil contamination
and noise pollution. Once a country has industrialized and become
wealthy, a combination of government regulation and technological
innovation causes pollution to decline substantially, even as the
population continues to grow.
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Deforestation and loss of ecosystems that sustain global
atmospheric oxygen and carbon dioxide balance; about eight million
hectares of forest are lost each year.
Changes in atmospheric composition and consequent global
warming.
Irreversible loss of arable land and increases in desertification.
Deforestation and desertification can be reversed by adopting property
rights, and this policy is successful even while the human population
continues to grow
Mass species extinctions from reduced habitat in tropical forests due
to slash-and-burn techniques that sometimes are practiced by shifting
cultivators, especially in countries with rapidly expanding rural
populations; present extinction rates may be as high as 140,000
species lost per year. As of February 2011, the IUCN Red List lists a
total of 801 animal species having gone extinct during recorded human
history
High infant and child mortality. High rates of infant mortality are
caused by poverty. Rich countries with high population densities have
low rates of infant mortality
Intensive factory farming to support large populations. It results in
human threats including the evolution and spread of antibiotic resistant
bacteria diseases, excessive air and water pollution, and new viruses
that infect humans.
Increased chance of the emergence of new epidemics and
pandemics For many environmental and social reasons, including
overcrowded living conditions, malnutrition and inadequate,
inaccessible, or non-existent health care, the poor are more likely to be
exposed to infectious diseases.
Starvation, malnutrition or poor diet with ill health and diet-deficiency
diseases (e.g. rickets). However, rich countries with high population
densities do not have famine.
Poverty coupled with inflation in some regions and a resulting low
level of capital formation. Poverty and inflation are aggravated by bad
government and bad economic policies. Many countries with high
population densities have eliminated absolute poverty and keep their
inflation rates very low
Low life expectancy in countries with fastest growing populations.
Unhygienic living conditions for many based upon water resource
depletion, discharge of raw sewage and solid waste disposal.
However, this problem can be reduced with the adoption of sewers.
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For example, after Karachi, Pakistan installed sewers, its infant
mortality rate fell substantially
Elevated crime rate due to drug cartels and increased theft by people
stealing resources to survive
Conflict over scarce resources and crowding, leading to increased
levels of warfare.
Less personal freedom and more restrictive laws. Laws regulate
interactions between humans. Law "serves as a primary social
mediator of relations between people." The higher the population
density, the more frequent such interactions become, and thus there
develops a need for more laws and/or more restrictive laws to regulate
these interactions. It was even speculated by Aldous Huxley in 1958
that democracy is threatened due to overpopulation, and could give
rise to totalitarian style governments
Over population has contributed towards an increase in a number of
social evils. Lawlessness, crime and corruption are all the result of
population explosion. The fight over resources has divided the society
into two groups i.e. those who have all and are not willing to share it
and the second group that is fighting for its mere survival. This fight
between haves and have-nots has the inherent seeds of conflict in it,
which if erupted could imperil the peace and order in the society.
Urbanization: In 1975 only 27% of the people in developing world lived
in urban areas. By 2000 it had grown to 40%. In developed world
already 75% of the population is living in the urban areas. It is due to
migration of people to town or cities in search of better job
opportunities. These cities not only spreads outward into the
surroundings, agricultural land or natural areas like forest, grassland
and wetlands but also grows sky ward with high rise building. Good
urban planning is essential for rational landuse, for upgrading slum
areas, improving water supply and drainage system, providing
adequate sanitation, developing effective waste water treatment plant
and an efficient public transport
Mitigation Measures:
There are several mitigation measures that have been applied to reduce the
adverse impact of over population. Overpopulation is an issue that threatens
the state of the environment in the above-mentioned ways and therefore
societies must make a change in order to reverse some of the environmental
effects brought on by current social norms.
EDUCATION IS A KEY: to make a change in the attitude of the people.
Many factors that affect population growth can be changed through
education. However, education is essential to break the cycle of poverty and
provide South Asians with the means to raise their standard of living. It also
helps to improve the status of females by giving them job opportunities.
Education can play a major role in providing the awareness about the impact
of overpopulation on environment, climate and energy demand which in turn
will also bring change in the attitude.
All care should be taken to remove fear from the mind of couple male and
female as well and give them a proper education so that they can a proper
method of contraception and go ahead with their small family norm. even
NGOs and media can help reducing population explosion by proper
counseling as the social service by providing some contraceptive devices on
subsidies rate and as well as on TV and radios we can have small dramas or
like small nukkad- natak what you have say just to tell public how these
methods are useful, how these methods can make their life happy and if they
don’t use it properly how they are put into the problem of population
explosion , like having various difficulties, economic and other difficulties in
their families as well as health problems which make the mother weaker and
even children they are not properly taken care of, not properly immunize and
in all the ways they all suffer. so these different dramas, small stories, even
small writing from knowledgeable people that can help society in this family
planning program
BIRTH REGULATION: Over population is related to the issue of birth
control. Some nation like the people’s Republic of China, use strict measures
to reduce birth rate but religious opposition to birth control has been cited as
factor contributing to over population and poverty. But there is an urgent
need to strictly implement a china like “One Child Policy” globally by United
Nation.
We see the solution of this problem in family planning. Family planning
means not only stopping the no. of children in a family but producing child in
a right time. so their should be a right gab between two children and this
makes the small family norm. like going we have heard many slogan “hum
do hamare do” and many other you can read it everywhere, so it is just to
limit the no. of children and have children at right time in the family so that
mother can take care of children in better way, their resources are better
utilize for less no. of children so better education is given to the child, better
care is taken up physical, mental as well as spiritual. They are given good
moral education and that makes our nation further healthy so its very
important.
FAMILY PLANNING: Or Family welfare program. Many countries like India
seriously took an effective family planning program which was renamed as
Family welfare program. Slogan such as “HUM DO HEMARE DO” also
indicates the effort taken up by the government.
The various methods are: Tubectomy, IUD, oral contraceptives pills for
women. Vasectomy and use of condoms are for men. These methods are
either use for permanent sterilization of men and women or for temporary
sterilization.
Permanent Method use for sterilization is done by minor surgery. For
example tubectomy in female is done by tying the tubes that carry the ovum
to the uterus and vasectomy in males is done by tying the tubes that carry
the sperms. Both are very simple procedure done under local anesthesia
which are painless.
Temporary methods includes the use of condoms for men during intercourse
and for women Intrauterine devices like Copper Ts, a small object is placed
in the uterus by the doctors.
Now family planning facility which are available are in n no. of facilities
available here which are provided by government as well as nongovernment and private sectors. It’s a cafeteria choice really different
people they are in need of different kind of family planning method.
Family planning can be a just permanent method i.e. permanent
stopping the producing of the children or it can be a temporary one. so
from temporary method we have many other conventional method like
we have condoms, female and male condoms, vaginal permicidle
tablets and gels and there are other methods which just that deserve
the conventional but for a long time if they don’t want to have children
for many say three yrs or five yrs then they have many other choices
may be hormonal methods or non- hormonal methods.
Among hormonal methods it may be oral contraceptives. Which can be
minimal dose contraceptives than really better ones have come up in
the market. Which have very less side effects and are very convenient
to use? There are iucds that are intra uterine contraceptive devices.
Which are hormonal devices that are implants which can be just put
under surface of skin and it can give a better protection. Even now a
day’s vaginal ring with hormones impregnated needs that are available
and they can be used and they can be changed every month. So these
are the hormonal methods. These are some non-hormonal methods
copper t multiload and they are very good.
Though the taboos are their, they are prevalent in society but its
responsibility of all doctors and other people in society just to properly
educate the female and even her husband regarding that method tell
them each and everything and just boost up their moral to use all this
method. Still many methods are under research.
Actually how to choose a contraceptive method, it depends on the
need of the patient, need of the couple actually the contraceptive
method, it should be safe first thing, it should be effective, third thing it
should be cheaper and easily available and fourth parameter is
whenever you need child, it should be reversible one whenever you
need child just stop using that method and you can have another child
when wanted. Another thing is they should not have any side effect,
which causes permanent damage to the health of the female or male.
Now its not only the obvious people means not only the gynecologist it
is well prime responsibility but even the family physician they should
play active role in family planning advices because they are the one
who are very closer to the family, they know the family for long time
and they know them very well. So that according to their need they can
council them to use particular method and give a birth spacing as well
as permanently limit the number of children in the family. Similarly
there are few people they think that going for factors like permanent
methods of family planning like T.T. i.e. tubectomy done on female. it
can be leproscopic or it can be conventional tt, abdominal and f or
males it is V.T. i.e. vasectomy and still it is vasectomy regarding
vasectomy still there is tubule or there is perception prevailing in
society that male become weaker after this operation but its not true
Recommendations
Considering the above factors, it is obvious the success of family planning
programs depends on too many factors, making it a more complex operation
than usual. However, this does not change the fact that birth control is
extremely important in order to improve the life of the future generations in
terms of better availability of resources and a better and clean world. Unless,
we want our future generations to live the life of barbarians, it is imperative
that we control the population explosion and thus control the usage of the
available resources. We can start by educating the women of India in the
basics of family planning. This can simply be done if just one educated
person takes it into her/his stride to teach one other person – “Each one,
teach one.”
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Family planning facilities be made a part of health facilities
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There should be a greater role for local and provincial governments
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Role of NGOs and doctors in disbursement of Aid received for family
panning
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Males should be urged to cooperate more
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Status of women to be raised in society as done by present
government by giving more seats in assemblies
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Better health and educational facilities for women
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Issue to be taken as a national crisis
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Role of media to be encouraged especially in rural areas to control the
population explosion
Now many people are use this contraceptive methods regularly and
that a good sign but I think still the people in rural areas should be
better educated, well educated they should be hold more and more
about all this methods and we should see that they use it properly. So
that they have small family, so that they can get better services to their
children and make a happy society.