Health, family planning and population policy and programs of HMG/Nepal
Shrestha, D.P.
Economic Journal of Nepal 14(4): 19-26
1991
Document Number: 515219
High infant mortality and high fertility are related, as parents have a tendency to replace a child who has died in infancy. The use of birth spacing methods would help to improve maternal and child health, and the improved child health would in turn accelerate the adoption of spacing methods. This paper focuses on the present health status and family planning needs of Nepal, and reviews its population policies and programmes. Various policies integrating health and family planning have been designed, and several programmes have been implemented. However, there has been little significant headway, and the rapid growth in the population has not been arrested. Policies and measures recommended in the National Population Strategy have not been fully implemented, and the targets set have been too ambitious. It is therefore time to design a more suitable population policy.