Population and family planning
Romero, H.
Revista Medica de Chile 105(12): 946-950
1977
ISSN/ISBN: 0034-9887 PMID: 397567 Document Number: 113630
This work consists of a speech read before the Adacemy of Medicine of the Institute of Chile and a brief debate by members of the audience. Misinformed opponents of birth control who argue among other things that family planning is a US plot ignore the fact that the desire to avoid pregnancy dates from the remote past, as attested by evidence from early Egyptian papyruses. Recent sharp declines in human mortality have led to unprecedented population growth. Around the beginning of the modern era the world contained about 250 million people, a population which did not double until the mid 1600s. Today world population doubles in 30 to 35 years, and by the end of the century it may reach 7 billion. The impact of such growth on the food supply, housing, the economy, education, and the environment have been the object of many studies, predominant among them those presented at the World Population Conferences in Rome, Belgrade, and Bucharest. The family planning program in Chile was initiated around 1962 although some activities had been carried out earlier. The Chilean Association for the Protection of the Family, a private organization, grew out of these early efforts and enjoyed considerable success from its earliest days. The natality rate declined from 38/1000 in 1962 to 23.5/1000 in 1977, and infant and maternal mortality also declined. The decline has been concentrated in births after age 30 and in high parity births. The young age structure means that the population will continue to increase for the foreseeable future.