CHARSADDA: Pregnancy-prevention medicines and devices have been out of stock for the last two years at the Population Welfare Department centres in Charsadda and various other districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, affecting the family planning system. Devices, injections and other such medicines used for family planning have not been available for the last two years at more than 900 Population Welfare Department centres across the province. This shortage has rendered several Population Welfare centres non-functional, while the activities of more than 6,500 employees posted at these centres have also been affected. Thousands of people seeking family planning services are also facing difficulties due to the non-availability of such supplies.

According to official figures, 35 Population Welfare centres in Charsadda and 92 in Peshawar have been affected by the shortage of family planning medicines. Directorate sources said that tenders worth around Rs800 million to Rs900 million were required for the procurement of birth spacing supplies, but the procurement process had not yet been completed due to technical reasons. Experts said the Population Welfare Department should maintain at least a three-month buffer stock of such medicines and supplies. However, due to their continued non-availability, the required stock could not be supplied to various districts of the province for the last two years.

According to sources, devices account for 56 per cent of pregnancy prevention methods used, but they have not been available through the public sector for the last two years. Experts said the unchecked population growth was already putting increasing pressure on limited resources. Continued population growth would increase demand for jobs, education, healthcare, food, housing and clean water, while shortages of available resources could aggravate poverty, unemployment and the lack of basic services.