Anxiety as world population nears explosion

*Nigeria’s population to surpass US by 2050 – UN
*140 million babies worldwide born annually – WHO
*Development raises concern over infrastructure deficit

Although children is a gift from God and every family especially those in Africa prays to be blessed with one, there are fears that the world population is on the verge of explosion following a geometric increase on the number of babies born each year.

The average African family regard child birth as the ultimate purpose of marriage and cast aspersions on couples especially women who are unable to bear children. Such situation are not tolerated as men are advised to contract another wife without regard to the financial implications of such moves.

It is a general belief that God gives and takes care of children, hence some families and even government in Africa have shown utmost irresponsibility in providing and sustaining basic amenities that will support life and children upbringing.

In Europe, American and other developed countries, government makes provisions for the upkeep of children including the unborn child but the case is different in Africa and other developing countries where children’s upkeep, education and welfare is solely provided through the merger resources of parents couples with gross deficit in public infrastructure.

According to a United Nations report, “The world’s population is projected to reach 8.5 billion by 2030, 9.7 billion by 2050 and exceed 11 billion in 2100, and India expected to surpass China as the most populous in seven years from now and Nigeria overtaking the United States to become the world’s third largest country in 35 years from now”.

More worrisome is the report from the World Health Organisation (WHO) indicating that about 140 million births take place every year and most of these occur without complications for women and their babies.

Another report by the United Nations Children’s fund (UNICEF) further indicated that approximately 20,210 babies were born in Nigeria on the 1st of January 2018.

This figure, according to the world body, represents the third largest population of newborns in the world on that day.

The UN report reveals that from 2015-2050, half of the world’s population growth is expected to be concentrated in nine countries: India, Nigeria, Pakistan, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Ethiopia, Tanzania, the United States, Indonesia and Uganda.

Wu Hongbo, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Economic and Social Affairs, whose department produced the 2015 Revision of World Population Prospects, during the 24th round of official UN population estimates and projections, noted that understanding the demographic changes that are likely to unfold over the coming years “is key to the design and implementation of the new development agenda.”

“Of these, Nigeria’s population, currently the seventh largest in the world, is growing the most rapidly,” said the report. Consequently, the population of Nigeria is projected to surpass that of the United States by about 2050, at which point it would become the third largest country in the world.

The report also projected that by 2050 the populations of six countries are expected to exceed 300 million: China, India, Indonesia, Nigeria, Pakistan, and the United States.

And with the highest rate of population growth, Africa is expected to account for more than half of the world’s population growth over the next 35 years.

Much of Africa’s population boom will come from Nigeria, currently the world’s 7th most populous country. By 2050, the report predicts, Nigeria will become the world’s third largest country by population, becoming one of the six nations projected to have a population of over 300 million.

During this period, the populations of 28 African countries are projected to double, and by 2100, 10 African countries are projected to have increased by at least a factor of five: Angola, Burundi, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mali, Niger, Somalia, Uganda, United Republic of Tanzania and Zambia.

While issuing new guidelines on global care standards throughout labour period and immediately after childbirth, Nothemba Simelela, WHO’s Assistant Director-General for Family, Women, Children and Adolescents, said that the new guidelines is aimed at reducing the use of needless and potentially harmful routine clinical and medical interventions.

She said: “We want women to give birth in a safe environment with skilled birth attendants in well-equipped facilities.

“However, the increasing medicalisation of normal childbirth processes are undermining a woman’s own capability to give birth and negatively impacting her birth experience”.

However, according to World health body, over the past 20 years, health practitioners have increased the use of interventions that were previously only used to avoid risks or treat complications, such as oxytocin infusion to speed up labour or caesarean sections.

Studies show that a substantial proportion of healthy pregnant women undergo at least one clinical intervention during labour and birth.

“If labour is progressing normally, and the woman and her baby are in good condition, they do not need to receive additional interventions to accelerate labour,” Simelela added.

From the 56 evidence-based recommendations, the new guidelines include having a companion of choice during labour and childbirth, ensure respectful care and good communication between women and health providers and maintaining privacy and confidentiality.

It further allows women to make decisions about their pain management, labour and birth positions and natural urge to push, among others. It recognised that every labour and childbirth is unique and that the duration of the active first stage of labour varies from one woman to another.

The UN agency also noted that with more women giving birth in health facilities with skilled health professionals and timely referrals, they deserved better quality of care.

Estimates show that about 830 women die from pregnancy or childbirth-related complications around the world every day – the majority of which can be prevented with high-quality care.

“Achieving the best possible physical, emotional, and psychological outcomes for the woman and her baby requires a model of care in which health systems empower all women to access care that focuses on the mother and child,” he stated.

“The concentration of population growth in the poorest countries presents its own set of challenges, making it more difficult to eradicate poverty and inequality, to combat hunger and malnutrition, and to expand educational enrolment and health systems, all of which are crucial to the success of the new sustainable development agenda,” said John Wilmoth, Director of the UN’s Population Division.

This rapid population growth poses a conundrum for many African governments as to how public infrastructure, much of which is already at a deficit, will keep pace with the rising number of citizens.

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Nigeria currently struggles to cater for the education needs of its millions of annual high school graduates. Indeed, between 2010 and 2015, of the 10 million applicants that sought entry into Nigerian tertiary institutions, only 26% gained admission with Nigeria’s university system sorely lacking in capacity.

Across 47 countries (33 of which are in Africa) which are designated by the United Nations as the least developed countries, population is expected to nearly double from 1 billion in 2017 to 1.9 billion by 2050. The population growth, UN argues, will make it “harder” for governments in these countries which are already struggling with reducing poverty and hunger as well as improve access to standard health care system, basic education needs and public infrastructure.

Acknowledging the scale of the problem posed by population explosion on education, Nigeria’s Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Education, Adamu Hussaini said it was “sad to note” that Nigeria had 10.5 million children out of school, a situation that has been described as a disaster waiting to happen.

Beyond 2050, Africa is expected to be the only region still experiencing “substantial population growth,” and as such, the continent’s share of the global population could rise from 17% at present to 40% by 2100.