Quote:
Originally Posted by Sunfish
Thanks Gary,
It is interesting that demographers puts the decline in birth rates down to better medical treatment , vaccination and family planning in places such as Bangladesh where the rate has fallen to around 2. People are happier to have smaller families and not suffer the agonies of loss. Perhaps Africa will discover this sooner than we think.
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Hi Ray,
Bangladesh and Pakistan are interesting comparative cases.
I have travelled extensively through both countries.
It is interesting to compare their demographics today compared to 1971
when Bangladesh split off from West Pakistan and became independent.
Back in 1971, the mortality rate for children under 5 years-old
in Bangladesh was an appalling 25%.
Both it and Pakistan had a fertility rate of around 7 children per woman.
But in the late 70's Bangladesh started a contraceptive distribution program
and the fertility rate declined and the mortality rate for children also
dramatically declined.
This in turn brought about improvements in health, education and nutrition.
Pakistan, by comparison, didn't initiate a similar family planning program.
When you travel there, it has a very fatalistic mindset and nearly every
sentence is punctuated with the word "Inshallah" - "If God wills it" - which
quite likely permeates its way into the approach for family planning.
Pakistan also feels more conservative than Bangladesh.
So that might account for why Pakistan's fertility rate today is approximately
one child per woman higher than Bangladesh's and why
the under 5 mortality rate is double. Pakistan is in the list
of top ten countries where population will increase by the largest percent
between now and 2050.
One of the things I find surprising when comparing the two countries
is that the geography of Bangladesh makes it the more challenging place
for health of the two. It really is mainly water with some patches of land.
When you travel there, you have to be on-guard against cholera. Spread
through contaminated water, you commonly read of outbreaks in
the local press and it is probably still the largest cause of child mortality.
But they have an active vaccination program that has improved the
greater population's resilience to it.
Global warming, rising water levels and more severe monsoons
will be its next big challenge.