XN000022-1973-08-08 — Page 3

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Wednesday, August 8, 1973

Since the middle of the 1950s, the government has supported family

planning mainly by subventions to the Family Planning Association and the

Catholic Marriage Advisory Council. During the past decade, the decline in

Hong Kong's birthrate has been significant, falling from 40 per 1,000 of the

population in 1962 to 19.4 in 1971.

The level of financial support to the Family Planning Association

has increased over the years from $5,000 in 1955/56 to $1.5 million this year.

All the evidence available suggests that the Association's work has been

beneficial to the community, and that its services have met a real demand,

The need for direct government involvement in family planning falls

under three main heads:-

The number of women in the most fertile age group, aged between 25 and 29, will increase from 95,400 in 1971 to about 220,000 by 1981 and 260,000 by 1991. The total number of births and the crude birth rate will inevitably rise, and the present downward trend in the population growth will not be maintained unless there is a steady decline in fertility over the period.

The Family Planning Association feels it should not carry the main burden of a problem that should properly be a government concern, It has requested the development of a government family planning programme because it holds the view that only together with the Government can it work effectively towards the development of a comprehensive service suited to the needs of the Hong Kong community.

Family planning is not only a means of population control, but also a community health and welfare measure. By making it possible to plan family size, it is possible to lower perinatal, infant and childhood mortality, to safeguard the health of both nother and child, and to secure various other improvements.

/The government