Improve awareness on family planning in rural areas: Health Minister

With 643 male sterilisation operations and 2,20,896 female sterilisation procedures in 2021-22, the state health department is looking at increasing awareness of the use of contraceptives and family planning among its citizens.

Speaking at an event to commemorate World Population Day, state Health Minister Dr K Sudhakar said that according to the health department, there was a need to improve awareness of family planning.

“Our ASHA workers play a major role in creating awareness among the people. However, there is a need to improve awareness programmes, especially in rural areas,” he said.

He added that a small family will help grow an economically stronger community.

‘Small families better’

“The expenses of a family are directly proportional to the number of children in the family. With fewer children, parents can afford better education and health facilities for them. Hence, the smaller the family, the better,” he said.

According to the National Family Health Survey-5, 68.7% of people in Karnataka use at least one method of contraception, and 68.2% use one of the modern methods.