A PROJECTION that Pakistan’s population could reach 400m by 2040 should not be treated as another dramatic number to be quoted at ceremonies and forgotten by the next budget. It is a warning about the size of the state’s future obligations. Every additional child will need vaccination, nutrition, schooling, safe water, transport and, eventually, work. Yet the present system already fails millions on each count. The issue, therefore, is not that families are having children irresponsibly while the government looks on helplessly. It is that the state has never made voluntary family planning a dependable part of primary healthcare. Advice is sporadic,........

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