Get active in family planning, men told

Written by Writer on Friday, October 24th, 2008

Get active in family planning, men told

Fri, 10/24/2008 1:36 PM | National

Greater male participation in family planning is needed to curb the sharply rising birthrate in Indonesia. So far, only 1.5 percent of men of childbearing age use condoms or have a vasectomy, according to the National Family Planning Board (BKKBN).

“Indonesia’s birthrate is currently between 4.4 to 4.5 million babies per year. Without family planning, the number could rise to 5.2 million,” said BKKBN’s head, Sugiri Syarief, on Thursday.

“We have been encouraging more men to take part in family planning by using contraception.”

Sugiri was confident that his office would be able to boost male condom use to 4.5 percent by next year.

He pointed to couples’ objection to, and lack of contraception as the main reasons for low male participation in family planning.

Data from the BKKBN showed that between 2002 and 2007, Indonesia’s birthrate was 2.6. Last year’s figure stood at 1.3 percent and the board aims to further lower next year’s population growth to 1.14 percent.

“Only around 60 percent of Indonesia’s 28.7 million couples of childbearing age use contraception. It is the main reason for the high population growth,” Sugiri said, adding the highest birthrates are among poor families.

It is projected that, by the end of this year, Indonesia is likely to have a population of 227 million, making it the fourth most populated country in the world after China, India and the United States.

The BKKBN aims to slow population growth and has set a target of no more than 237.8 million people by 2015.

“Should the family planning fail, Indonesia may have 264.4 million citizens,” Sugiri said.

This year, the BKKBN received Rp 1.2 trillion (US$120.6 million) from the state budget for its family planning program. However, the budget is likely to be slashed by 15 percent, “due to the global crisis”, Sugiri said.

JP/Arghea Desafti Hapsari