Sri Lanka's Success Story in Population Management

By A.T.P.L. Abeykoon

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Description: Population activities in Sri Lanka commenced with an NGO. Subsequently, the activities were expanded and legitimized under the Ministry of Health as a national policy. In order to give a push to the programme and greater visibility, population policy planning and coordination was vested under the Ministry of Plan Implementation which functioned under the President of Sri Lanka. When the demand creation for family planning was completed, these functions were again placed under the Ministry of Health which is responsible for the delivery of family planning and reproductive health services. In this transition of five decades, many decisions were taken at the right time and right people were placed in key positions. In the future, however, with rising incomes among the masses, eventually the role of the government in family planning activities will diminish and more and more married couples would resort to NGO and private sector sources to meet their needs. The Author concludes that "in this transition from high population growth to relatively slow growth, what mattered most were the people who managed, coordinated and implemented programme activities.They were the very heart and soul of the programme, the movers and shakers. It was my privilege to meet and work with some of those men and women, among the most dedicated, sincere and heart-warming people that I have ever encountered in my public service career of four decades". **Editor's Note: "During his four decades as a public servant, Dr. Abeykoon has contributed immensely to the field of demography in Sri Lanka and in the formulation and implementation of population policies and strategies. He was popularly known as 'Mr. Population" http://www.ihp.lk/publications/docs/Successstory.pdf