Asian population warning

Press, Volume CXII, Issue 33063, 2 November 1972, Page 15

Asian population warning

(N.Z.P.A.-Reuter—Copyright)

TOKYO, Nov. 1.

An Asian population conference is to open in Tokyo today with a warning that without effective birth control the region will inevitably have four times as many people by the year 2000.

And one of the first documents being studied by the delegates of 25 countries adds that an early and rapid decline in fertility is “essential for the preservation and development of the Asian peonies and cultures.”

The two-week conference is the second organised by the United Nations Economic Commission for Asia and the Far East (E.C.A.F.E.). The first was in Delhi in.

1963, since when the population of the area has increased by 400 million. Demographic and birthcontrol experts from the region and the United Nations specialist bodies are being asked to produce policies to cope with the World Population Conference scheduled for 1974.

Absent from the Tokyo conference is China, an Asian country with one of the most extensive family-planning programmes.

Officials said that it was hoped the Chinese, who entered the United Nations last year, would soon be participating in specialist activities.

In a report to the conference, E.C.A.F.E. predicted that uncontrolled, the region’s population would reach 3568 million by the year 2000—more than the entire world’s population in 1970—from the present 1994 million. This compares with only 915 million in 1900. But the report said that

if family planning targets throughout the E.C.A.F.E. region could be achieved, the estimated population at the end of the century could be reduced by 764 million. It admitted that it would still leave a lot of people living in Asia, but commented: “About 180 million fewer houses would be required, and greater investments could be made in education, creation of employment, and raising the quality of life.”

E.C.A.F.E. experts also predict that in the next 30 years Asia’s urban population will triple, adding to the burden on overstrained city amenities.

They also warn that in the present decade the number of pre-school children will increase by about 50 million, “a gain of special concern to those providing health services.

“As a substantial proportion of these children in developing countries of the region is already suffering from malnutrition, a further

increase in their number deserves special consideration.” The E.C.A.F.E. report said that survivors of these children would be the future labour force. But malnutrition experienced by them in their early years might have a serious effect on their physical and mental development and working productivity. With countries in the region already facing problems of under-employment, the report also expressed concern at the anticipated increase of 285 million in the working age population during the 19705.

Attending the conference are Australia, Britain, France, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Iran, Japan, Khmer Republic (Cambodia), Republic of Korea, Laos, Malaysia, Nepal, Netherlands, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka (Ceylon), Thailand, U.S.S.R., and the United States. Sweden, Canada, Turkey, and West Germany are present as observers, i