Mortality Tops Population Concerns of Poor Nations, Report Says
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Thursday, April 29, 2004
http://www.unwire.org/UNWire/20040429/449_23304.asp
Child and maternal mortality and AIDS-related deaths are the
most pressing population concerns for people in the developing
world, while developed countries are most concerned with low
fertility and its consequences, according to a U.N. report on
population policies for the world body's 194 members.
World Population Policies 2003, released earlier this year, re-
ported that more than half of developing nations - and over
three-quarters of African countries - say their populations are
growing too quickly.
Nearly half of developed countries, meanwhile, view their popu-
lation growth rates as too slow, and almost 40 percent have in-
troduced policies to boost population growth.
While three-fifths of developing countries report that fertility
is too high, the same percentage of developed countries find
their fertility levels too low, the study said.
The report also found that 90 percent of countries support the
provision of contraceptive methods, either directly or through
support of nongovernmental sources. The vast majority of coun-
tries in the developing world - 80 percent - said that AIDS is a
major concern.
Three-quarters of developed countries listed aging populations
as a worry, as did half of developing nations. One-third of
countries have policies designed to limit immigration, an in-
crease from just 7 percent in 1976, the report said.
The World Population Policies report includes population poli-
cies as of 2003 as well as for mid-decade for the 1970s, 1980s
and 1990s (U.N. release, March 24).
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