The electronic version of the Asia-Pacific Population Journal is being made available by the ESCAP Population Division and the Population Information Network (POPIN) of the United Nations Population Division/DESIPA, with the funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Abstract
Articles
A New Direction in Population Policy and Family Planning in the Islamic Republic of Iran
The most important aspect of the new programmes success is the interest, support and guidance of religious leaders, and this holds many implications for other Muslim countries.
By Akbar Aghajanian
Contraception among Adolescents in Bangladesh
Frequent visits by family planning workers greatly improve the contraceptive use rate among adolescents.
By M. Mazharul Islam and Mamun Mahmud
The Population of Persons with Disabilities in Pakistan
Improved collection and analysis of comprehensive and accurate data on the national disability situation is one of the policy categories mandated by the Agenda for Action of the Asia and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons.
By Tauseef Ahmed
Demographers' Notebook
The Influence of Socio-biological Factors on Perinatal Mortality in a Rural Area of Bangladesh
A New Direction in Population Policy and Family Planning in the Islamic Republic of Iran
After an almost complete halt in family planning for about eight years, the Government of the Islamic Republic of Iran so strongly revitalized family planning that the programme has recently been suggested as a model for other Muslim countries to follow. This article traces the history of that programme and, using data from the 1977 Iran Fertility Survey and the 1992 National Survey of Contraceptive Prevalence, assesses the current situation. It finds that contraceptive use is increasing and the crude birth rate declining. Female age at first marriage is also rising, which contributes to fertility decline.
Contraception among Adolescents in Bangladesh
This article highlights various aspects relating to the contraceptive behaviour of married adolescents. Using data from the 1989 Bangladesh Fertility Survey, it finds that, although knowledge of contraceptive methods is almost universal among this group, there is a wide gap between knowledge and use as only 26.3 per cent of adolescents have ever used any method. The reasons for this situation are discussed and the article draws out several implications for policy purposes, concluding with several recommendations for increasing contraceptive use among married adolescents.
The Population of Persons with Disabilities in Pakistan
This article fulfills one of the mandates of the Asian and Pacific Decade of Disabled Persons, 1993-2002 by focusing on the importance of the collection and analysis of data on persons with disabilities. It shows that, despite underreporting and misreporting, the available data allow some assumptions to be made about the situation with regard to disabilities in Pakistan. It makes several recommendations concerning disabilities in general and the improvement of data collection in particular.
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