ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s information minister Attaullah Tarar on Tuesday urged Islamic scholars and leaders to actively support family-planning and reproductive-health campaigns, warning that deep-rooted patriarchal attitudes were preventing women from accessing lifesaving maternal care and contributing to the country’s worsening population crisis.

Tarar’s remarks come as Pakistan faces one of the fastest-growing populations in Asia. As he put it, the country was adding the equivalent of “the size of New Zealand every year” to its population, placing immense pressure on health systems, education, jobs and long-term economic growth. The World Bank and UN agencies have repeatedly warned that Pakistan’s demographic trajectory threatens to undermine development gains unless family-planning uptake sharply increases.

Pakistan also continues to record among the world’s highest rates of infant and maternal mortality. UNICEF data show nearly 50 deaths per 1,000 live births, and government officials say deaths linked to poor reproductive care, neonatal complications and preventable maternal conditions remain widespread, especially in rural and low-income communities.

Speaking at a population summit in Islamabad, Tarar said Pakistan’s male-dominated social norms and reluctance to treat maternal health as a core right were costing lives, and that religious scholars were essential to shifting public attitudes.

“So, when we go to the religious segment, I think no one can shed more light on this than them [scholars], that religion is not an impediment,” the minister said. 

“Religion highlights your health responsibilities, it also highlights the rights of the mother, it also highlights the responsibilities of the husband toward the wife, and it also highlights the health of the children, and it also highlights the balance.”

He said Pakistan remains a society where maternal health is routinely sidelined, warning that the number of mothers lost due to poor awareness reflects a level of neglect so severe it amounts to “criminal negligence” on the part of society.

He also praised Pakistan’s Council of Islamic Ideology, which advises the government on the compatibility of laws with Islam, for publicly supporting population-management initiatives. 

The minister said Pakistan could not continue ignoring the connection between rapid population growth and rising mortality, including infant deaths, neonatal complications and untreated reproductive-health conditions, and called for a multi-pronged strategy combining legislation, education, community-based messaging and targeted outreach through mosques.

He urged parliamentarians to adopt reforms supporting reproductive rights and mental-health protections, including recognizing postpartum depression, which he said is widely dismissed in Pakistan despite its severe impact on new mothers.

Tarar added that Pakistan’s economic challenges were inseparable from its demographic pressure. The country’s fast-expanding population was straining resources, limiting job creation and weakening the impact of any economic recovery:

“Yes, we will not be able to achieve the desired growth rate… Yes, there will be fewer resources to go by,” he said, calling for a nationwide shift “from awareness to action.”