FRIDAY, OCTOBER 3, 1975
FAMILY PLANNING: NEXT DECADE CRUCIAL,
SAYS LADY MACLEHOSE ******
THE NEXT TEN YEARS WILL BE A CRUCIAL PERIOD FOR FAMILY PLANNING IN HONG KONG AS THE NUMBER OF WOMEN IN THE MOST FERTILE ACE GROUP IS EXPECTED TO NEARLY DOUBLE, LADY MACLEHOSE WARNED TODAY.
SAID.
+THE IMPLICATIONS, AND THE DANGERS, ARE OBVIOUS,+ SHE
+SO IS THE CHALLENGE TO THE FAMILY PLANNING SERVICE. THEY MUST BE SO ARRANGED THAT NO WOMAN IS DETERRED BY INCONVENIENCE, EMBARRASSMENT OR COST.
THIS, SHE SAID, WAS A TASK FOR CONTINUED CO-OPERATIVE EFFORTS BY THE FAMILY PLANNING ASSOCIATION AND THE GOVERNMENT.
LADY MACLEHOSE WAS ADDRESSING A CEREMONY IN THE CITY HALL MARKING THE SILVER JUBILEE CELEPRATIONS OF THE FAMILY PLANNING ASSOCIATION.
SHE NOTED THAT MUCH HEADWAY HAD BEEN MADE IN RECENT YEARS IN FAMILY PLANNING, AND THESE SUCCESSES WERE TIMELY, SHE SAID.
MORE WOMEN WERE VISITING FAMILY PLANNING CLINICS, MID AVAILABLE EVIDENCE SUGGESTED THAT A SIGNIFICANT NUMBER OF FAMILIES PRACTISED FAMILY PLANNING WITHOUT ATTENDING CLINICS OF ANY KIND.
AT PRESENT, THE GOVERNMENT AND THE FAMILY PLANNING ASSOCIATION OPERATE 65 BIRTH CONTROL CLINICS THROUGHOUT HONG KONG.
IN RETROSPECT, LADY MACLEHOSE SAID THE LAST FIFTEEN YEARS HAD SEEN GREAT CHANGES. IN 1961 THE CRUDE BIRTH RATE WAS 35 PER TUSAND, BUT SINCE 1971 THERE HAD BEEN A STRIKING TREND TOLARDS SMALLER FAMILIES, AND THE RATE SINCE 1971 HAD REMAINED BELOW 20 PER THOUSAND.
THESE CHANGES HAD BEEN ACCOMPANIED BY A GREATER READINESS TO PRACTISE FAMILY PLANNING, AND REFLECTED THE WIDER RANGE OF OPPORTUNITIES FOR EMPLOYMENT NOW AVAILABLE FOR WOMEN, AND
MORE WOMEN ALSO MARRIED THE RISE IN EDUCATIONAL STANDARDS. LATER.
LADY MACLEHOSE PAID TRIBUTE TO THE FAMILY PLANNING ASSOCIATION FOR ITS MAJOR CONTRIBUTION DURING THE PAST TWENTY-FIVE YEARS, AND LOOKED FORWARD TO A CONTILUL AND VERY EFFECTIVE PARTNERSHIP IN FAMILY PLANNING WOIK BETWEEN THE GOVERNMENT AND THE ASSOCIATION.
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