Chennai:
The total fertility rate of Tamil Nadu has declined from 3.9 children per woman in 1971 to 1.7 children per woman in 2009 due to state’s effective family planning measures, according to Tamil Nadu Health Minister V S Vijay.
Addressing a conference to mark World Population day 2012 at
Queen Mary’s College here on Wednesday, the minister said the state is a way
ahead of other states in successfully implementing birth control measures and
has the lowest (TFR) along with Kerala.
The total fertility rate (TFR), sometimes also called the
fertility rate, period total fertility rate (PTFR) or total period fertility
rate (TPFR) of a population is the average number of children that would be
born to a woman over her lifetime.
He said the use of contraceptives is very high in Tamil Nadu
when compared with other states. Interestingly, it is more women than men who
are going in for contraceptives. Vijay rued that more and more women in the
state are going in for tubectomy, a surgical procedure done on women as a
permanent method of contraception, with men remaining indifferent.
“Men in the state are avoiding contraceptives as they fear
they will lose their potency. This attitude must change and there is a need for
creating more awareness,” the minister said. Interestingly, the state’s Couple
Protection Rate, an indicator of the prevalence of contraceptive practice in
the community, has gone up from 50.3 in 2001 to 61 per cent as per the National
Family Health survey III.
Currently, the state is following non-scalpel vasectomy, a simple and highly effective contraception procedure for males with
minimal pain and disruption from work, and currently one per cent of
surgery is being done using this method. Director of Medical service and Family
Welfare Dr S Parajothi said that the state is aiming to reach the 10 per cent
mark in the next five years using this procedure. “Now we are creating
awareness in hospitals about this procedure,” he said.
Chennai Mayor Saidai P Duraiswamy, higher education and deputy
director Cynthia Pandian also spoke on the occasion.
Earlier,
a rally was flagged of to create awareness on birth control measures. Hundreds
of students took part in the rally which was flagged off by Chennai Mayor
Saidai P Duraiswamy and Vijay.
Statistics
for Tamil Nadu:
Crude
birth rate (number of live births per 1,000 population)
1971:
31.4 per cent
2010:
15.9
Crude
Death rate (No of deaths per 1,000 population)
1971:
14.4 per cent
2010:
7.6 per cent
Infant
Mortality Rate
2006:
37 per 1,000
2010:
24 per 1,000
Maternal
Mortality Rate
2009:
88
2010-11:
79
Source:
Sample Register System of GOI
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