In Ugandan members of the 13th parliament have proposed to penalize Ugandans who give birth to many children, saying unchecked population growth was outstripping the country’s resources. Uganda has an annual growth rate of 3.1% but legislators say this is too high and should be slowed down. He further called for enactment of a policy that would limit the number of children produced by Ugandans. The United Nations Fund for Population Activities (UNFPA) indicate that Uganda’s population has grown to 34 million this year, 2012 up from 33.8 million in 2010. The country’s population was around 24 million in 1995.
Family planning as one of the methods of controlling the increasing population, it refers to a set of methods that enable a couple to choose the number of children to have, when to have them, how to space them, and when to stop. The job of family planning remains unfinished. Despite great progress over the last several decades, more than 120 million women worldwide want to prevent pregnancy but they and their partners are not using contraception. While the current challenges to health throughout the world are many and serious the need to control one’s own fertility probably touches more lives than any other health issue. It is crucial to people’s wellbeing particularly that of women and fundamental to their self-determination.
Qn.1
a) From the case study above critically evaluate the idea that the birth rate in Uganda is too high and should be slowed down (9 marks)
b) On average, the total fertility rate (TFR) in Uganda is about 6.7 per woman compared to two children per woman in the developed world like Germany. Discuss (9marks)
c) Discuss the idea that Poor provision of medical services impacts negatively on the growth of a population. (7 marks)