Garth RattrayAT THE height of the political campaigning activities, two ruffian-looking riders mounted on powerful motorbikes ignored the stop sign and rode out from a minor intersection onto the Constant Spring Road. The scowling, bare-chested, gruff 'outriders' stopped all traffic.
I was at the front of a long line of traffic effectively held hostage by the two as a long motorcade of political revellers careened dangerously and noisily by.
It was an amazing sight. Women with knickers and knockers partially exposed were ensconced on hoods (the bonnets of motorcars). People sat atop buses while others were hanging out of the windows and doors. Flag-waving individuals shouting political slogans at the top of their lungs dangled from motor vehicles.
The motorcade seemed unending and the blatant indiscipline and potential volatility of the scene left us feeling exposed, trapped, insecure and intimidated.
I found myself wondering where these people came from and what type of homes nurtured this rabble. With the escalation of violence near to the elections I wondered how it was that so many of our people became so dependent upon the politician for sustenance. They obviously felt a burning need to secure themselves through turpitude, intimidation and (at times) violence. I shuddered to think of what more would happen if we were to outgrow those scarce resources that we hear so much about. Already, fighting over the spoils was dislocating our society, derailing the economy and wasting precious lives.
It became even more apparent to me that if our nation is to survive, two of our long-term goals must be discipline and population control. It is the aspect of population control that interests me at this juncture.
A colleague called and reminded me that the National Family Planning Week would commence on Sunday October 20, 2002. This year's theme is, 'Two is still better than too many' in keeping with its 'Two is better than too many' campaign begun in 1983. The National Family Planning Board (NFPB) was in fact empowered by the 1970 National Family Planning Act to "prepare, promote and implement family planning and population-related programmes in Jamaica."
One of the goals of the NFPB was to ensure that Jamaica's population did not exceed 2.7 million by the year 2000 or 3 million by 2020. The preliminary count at September 10, 2001 was 2,599,334 (that is about 2.6 million), an obvious success. Another goal was for Jamaicans to bear 2 children per woman of reproductive age. Currently we have 3 (down from 4.5). Through educational programmes and female empowerment, 75 countries from all regions of the world have achieved replacement level fertility rates of 2.1 children per woman or less. The remaining goal was to achieve a contraceptive prevalence rate of 68 per cent by the year 2000 (it is currently 64 per cent, up from 38 per cent).
The poor produce more children than the rich for a variety of reasons, ignorance being foremost. Some theorise that the answer lies in the subconscious fear that poverty will deny them the continuance of their bloodline. People may be producing children because poverty kicks the biological need to procreate into overdrive (a fail-safe technique for survival of the species). Others postulate that the poor see progeny as their only old-age pension. Men often insist on 'getting a youth' as a prerequisite to a relationship and many women fulfil their need for basic support by bearing children for their man in the hope that he will maintain the home. Yet others perceive children as a way to gain social acceptance by satisfying the integrative demands of their community. As we all know, in some communities a childless woman is dubbed a 'mule.'
These are all the wrong reasons for producing children. They all lead to poverty, national economic strain, family (and eventually social) dehiscence, indiscipline, dependency upon society, crime, unsustainable natural and energy resources, pollution and the stunting of national development.
The NFPB has adopted a sound, holistic approach to our family planning problem by highlighting male irresponsibility, the disruptive nature of early unplanned pregnancy and the deprivation of the individual child within families with multiple progeny (albeit a relative term). Literacy rates and education appear to have a direct relationship to the success of family planning programmes. The two are complementary. The more literate and educated the individual the more likely he or she is to take advantage of the widely available contraceptive methods (made so through the tireless efforts of the NFPB) and the more likely couples are to plan parenthood.
The NFPB has made it clear that it does not only promote limiting the number of children produced, it also promotes proper, responsible and life-long parenting (through family life education). The availability of every conceivable method of contraception is due to the work of the NFPB. By making contraceptive advice and methods widely available, the board has contributed to the alleviation of poverty, the protection of the environment and helped the nation achieve economic progress. Without the visionary and tireless efforts of the NFPB starving multitudes living in the squalor of an overpopulated, financially depleted country would most likely overrun our little country.
For my part I would also like to see the reinstitution of functional truant officers. We are living in the 21st century and we are computerising our records of births, deaths and migration. Every child registered at birth can be tracked. Every child of school age must be in school or at home. Any child found on the streets begging, running wild or wandering aimlessly must be taken to a place of safety and the parents summoned to explain themselves. Even in my medical practice I find a shameful and alarming preponderance of paternal abandonment. Our Family Courts need to be even more user-friendly, accessible, confidential and yet aggressive in tracking down and prosecuting deadbeat dads. The same effort and techniques used in dealing with Student Loan delinquents should be employed in bringing bum fathers face to face with their responsibilities.
Dr Garth A. Rattray is a medical doctor with a family practice.
