Family planning

3 September 2009 | Leicester Mercury

(Headline by Leicester Mercury)

‘Population key to climate change’ was your headline for FJ Abraham’s important letter. (Mailbox August 28) Population is, indeed, the key to climate change, and also to extreme poverty, hunger, and water shortage, and to most of the conflicts in developing countries, and to many other problems.

The UK government does provide some family planning to developing countries, but it keeps quiet about it, because politicians believe it is a vote loser. Aid agencies – if they do provide family planning – also keep quiet about it, because they think it will reduce their income.

Considering the huge advantages that family planning would bring to developing countries and to the world as a whole, we need to reassure politicians and aid agencies that they would not lose but would gain if they publicised its great importance.

Gerald Danaher