Overpopulation has become one of the main concerns to the world. The population keeps increasing every minute. From the current results of United Nation estimation, “the average net increase of 396,412,000 people in five years, meaning a net increase of 217,212 people/day or 150 more people/minute”[1]. As a result, overpopulation has become a serious problem everywhere in the world, especially in countries like China, United State and Japan. Overpopulation can result from an increase in birth rate, a decline in mortality rates due to medical advances, from an increase in immigration, or from an unsustainable biome and depletion of resources. There are several possible solutions to contain the growing population which include advertise the consequences of overpopulation issue, promote the birth control method among couples and also encourage small family by promoting a one child policy like in the People’s Republic of China.
The first simple solution is to create awareness among the people of the consequences of overpopulation. Issues regarding poverty, unemployment and food shortage would be addressed in regard to increase in population. The Government can create this sensitization by use of media; making advertisements in magazine, newspaper, television, radio, billboards and internet but to mention a few. This way a wide range of the public will be facilitated for regardless of the level of literacy, style of learning (visual and auditory learners) and location. In addition government should make education a high priority in its agenda. This will save a great deal of money, time and energy because if a many people are educated, important laws and information can be implemented which without a lot of opposition from the traditionalists for example those who prefer large families. So if all the people can understand the issue and know how serious the problem is, they will be aware of it and try to find the solutions for it.
Another possible solution is to promote the birth control methods among couple and also advise them on their significance. Birth control methods are techniques that couples undertake to prevent unwanted or early pregnancies. There are many different forms of birth control and these involve use of a condom during sexual intercourse, barrier method, hormonal method , pill, patch, vaginal contraceptive ring, etc. So the couple has a wide range to choose from. Health services for birth control methods should be easily accessible by anyone in both public and private hospitals as well as pharmacies. Government can encourage people to use birth control methods by mass media to show them their advantage and its role in reducing the increasing population.
The most effective solution is to apply to strict law of having a limited number of children per family. This can be implemented by introducing compensation and providing privileges for those that abide by the law. However consequences for those that don’t abide by the law should also be established for example high tax for those that have many children. Even if this may seem like a hard method to implement, it is the only one that can easily be monitored by the government. Personally I regard this method to be effective because in way the public will have no other choice because it’s a law that has to be followed. This method has been effective in China where the “One Child Policy” was implemented. Initially there was opposition from the public but in the years that followed, it became successful. Effectiveness of this law has a lot of consequences because it would require a lot of money say for compensation as a result may cause the country to run in debts however in long time, future issues that arise as a result of over population will have been eliminated.
Issues of overpopulation have been addressed in past however the response from the public has been slow. Therefore the Government should take it upon themselves to emphasize and educate the public about the consequences that result from high populations. Some government may have to pick a leaf from other governments that have been successful in the implantation of some of these possible solutions in order to promote a universal achievement. So we should all work together to find the solution. There are many things that governments and all people in the world can do help overcome this problem. The above mentioned solutions would require a lot of co-operation from everyone in order to ensure positive results.
[1] Source: Population Division of the Department of Economic and Social Affairs of the United Nations Secretariat, World Population Prospects: The 2008 Revision, http:/esa.un.org/unpp, Friday, June 26, 2009; 3:41:46 AM.
No comments:
Post a Comment