Candidates who have arrived to take an Indian railway recruitment examination sleep at night at the railway station in Allahabad, India, Sunday, June 3, 2012. About 1,300,000 candidates are appearing for the exam at numerous centers spread across the city. (AP Photo/Rajesh Kumar Singh)
Ahead of the this year's World Population Day on July 11, 2012, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki Moon issued a statement reiterating the importance of making reproductive healthcare mainstream.
"Investing in universal access to reproductive health is a crucial investment in healthy societies and a more sustainable future," Ban said.
Ban's comments reflect the theme of the 23rd annual World Population Day -- Universal Access to Reproductive Health Services.
Reproductive health problems are the leading cause of death for women of childbearing age worldwide. According to the United Nations Population Fund, almost 800 women die a day "in the process of giving life." Access to reproductive health services is part of one of the Millenium Development Goals set by the U.N. for 2015.
World Population Day was created in 1989 after the U.N.'s Day of 5 Billion two years prior sparked interest in the increasing world population.
Last October, the estimated world population hit 7 billion. The Associated Press explains how the rate of population growth has increased in the past century:
Demographers say it took until 1804 for the world to reach its first billion people and a century more until it hit 2 billion in 1927. Soon the numbers began to cascade: 3 billion in 1959, 4 billion in 1974, 5 billion in 1987, 6 billion in 1998.
The U.N. estimates the world population will reach 8 billion by 2025 and 10 billion by 2083. But the numbers could vary widely, depending on life expectancy, access to birth control, infant mortality rates and other factors.
Check out the photo gallery below for stunning pictures of people around the world:
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It's the Pope's and "right-to-lifers' job to turn women into "breeding stock."
But as soon as a woman gives birth, the church and R2L they're outta there leaving the mother on her own. And so the baby dies of malnutrition and the mother dies from the strain of another birth, it's not a problem for the baby-mongers. No abortions or contraception means another soul saved for the pious and holier-than-thou crowd.
How many people are dying from disease, famine and as victims of war at this moment? Millions? Tens of millions?
So drink up folks and put an additional dollar in the collection plate. Then go home and watch a dead man on TV talk about the poor little waif living in squalor and eighty cents a day will provide a better life for her. But what about the other nine kids in the same home?
shanefox: It's the Pope's and "right-to-lifers' job to turn women into
How about more promotion of CONTRACEPTION !!!!!!!! I am tired of hearing about all the starving children in 3rd world countrys.Dont have kids if YOU or the land can't provide for them.
pcs5141: How about more promotion of CONTRACEPTION !!!!!!!! I am tired
pcs5141. exactly. Contraception is the key. I too am tried of hearing about all the starving children. But don't worry Bill Gates and his vaccines funded by his billions are on the job.
Lindarm: pcs5141. exactly. Contraception is the key. I too am tried
The problem isn't space so much as it is resources and consumption. The rate of growth is not sustainable. Having basic standards of quality of life for everyone is something we as a race, as a society, are failing miserably at. I don't think the population should be expanding rapidly until we can do a good job taking care of all the people who are here already.
Michael__Kittredge: For anyone who thinks overpopulation is a lie or that
It's called "Human Inflation" Where you have so many people that their individual value drops.
1. Ripe for a salve state
2. World famine
3 Accidentally dropping the plague test tube.
4. WAR (for no apparent reason other than thinning out the population)
Claudia_L: This is Global W-a-r-n-i-n-g. It's called "Human Inflation" Where you
You can take the whole world's population and they will fit in an average sized county in the United States - the world is NOT OVER POPULATED - STOP THE LIES.
You can give them a home, every single person, with a yard, and they will fit in the State of Texas - - the world is NOT OVER POPULATED - STOP THE LIES.
vbfgsxjndygtkj: You can take the whole world's population and they will
It's more about Resources than space. Fresh water is a limited resource and many countries are running low, even some states in the US. With glaciers disappearing in some places this is a big problem. Desalination plants are very expensive, take time to build, use up a lot of energy, have limited capacity, and create waste that is not easy to deal with. While food is not a problem here in the states, it is in many other parts of the world. And we certainly don't have enough jobs for everyone. And we're chopping down trees faster than we can regrow them. And we're using oil faster than we can discover more sources. And we're making countless species go extinct. The oceans are being over-fished. There is only so much viable farmland. China is running low on rare earth materials every country in the world depends on.
Overpopulation is not a lie, regardless of what space you could squeeze every last person in the world into. The consumption of resources outpaces the worlds ability to regenerate them, and that is the crux of the problem. Without an influx of new technologies, methods, materials, we, as a species, and planet Earth, are in big trouble. Argue all you want to, but there are limits, and there are problems that are only getting worse.
Michael__Kittredge: It's more about Resources than space. Fresh water is a
Reproductive health problems are the leading cause of death for women of childbearing age worldwide, almost 800 women die a day "in the process of giving life."
THEN STOP BREEDING LIKE ROACHES.....the world has 7,400,000,000 people already.....that's 5,000,000,000 more than it can support...so mother nature has to step in and limit the humans on this planet.....hence....mother nature is letting humans do the dirty work.....GLOBAL WARMING......why should she get her hands dirty?
TYRANNASAURUS: Reproductive health problems are the leading cause of death for
It's not a lie though. It's a multifaceted issue and you are only considering one facet, space, which, to a degree, we have in abundance. When you consider all the other issues put together, you start to see the massive problems accumulating.
Michael__Kittredge: It's not a lie though. It's a multifaceted issue and
Stop anthropomorphizing the Earth, it's silly. People are "breeding" as they have always been throughout history, except now most of us have access to better medicine and more food, hence the growth rate. Anyway, there are plenty of countries with declining birth rates (Russia, Japan, etc.). You sound like the type of person who would approve of eugenics, so perhaps the forced sterilizations funded by the UK and US in India should make you very happy. And if you happen to find any strange pills from China, let's just say you're doing your part to help Mother Earth.
PzzaPff: Stop anthropomorphizing the Earth, it's silly. People are "breeding" as
I'm a big believer in sterilization....all I have to do is look around to see all the ugly fat and stupid people reproducing humankind backward to Australopithecus.
TYRANNASAURUS: I'm a big believer in sterilization....all I have to do
Last time I read the statistics; all western countries are below their minimum replacement birth number. However, Muslims and some other third worlders are breeding like rabbits.
Lindarm: Last time I read the statistics; all western countries are
And our effects on the other creatures who live on this planet who have as much right to be here as we do, and not to be displaced because of our ever-increasing population's needs - for space, water, food, etc, putting pressure on the environment.
Artemesian: And our effects on the other creatures who live on
god doesn't put food or water on the table, kiddo. Put the bible down and open your eyes. Get out more. Talk to people who know about the world. Forget the fairy tales and start learning reality.
Michael__Kittredge: god doesn't put food or water on the table, kiddo.
Every country needs to develop a plan to balance its population with its resources, food, water, energy and jobs. Those that do not will be exporting their populations.
Kenz300: Every country needs to develop a plan to balance its
In parts of the world we have a food crisis, a water crisis a climate change crisis, an energy crisis, a financial crisis, a jobs crisis and an over population crisis.
Every problem is made harder to solve with the worlds ever growing population.
Over a billion people live on less than $1 a day. If you can not provide for yourself you can not provide for a child.
Access to family planning services needs to be available to all that want it.
Kenz300: In parts of the world we have a food crisis,
Why doesn't the government set standards for people who WOULD want to have children? People are having kids left and right, no matter the age. They are getting younger and younger, as well as the numbers for adoption centers. Take into consideration, how many babies are brought in each day whom are not getting taken care of.
MercyJane: Why doesn't the government set standards for people who WOULD
Reproductive health practices must be included with a massive family planning program that educated the world's students, men and women of the necessity of decreased family numbers to save the planet life, including our own. There is on more important goal. There is no more noble cause. The alternative is an earth of natural destruction of species and elimination of a large percent of our own species through famine, disease, water depletion and worst of all, terrible wars resulting from economic exploitation, mass migration and invasion. The alternative is not inevitable. it is preventable with the exercise of wise, unified leadership of nations and people around the world.
themodernleader: Reproductive health practices must be included with a massive
Abstinence is the best policy to prevent sexual diseases. Children are gifts from God, He'll decided when the earth is over-populated. No need for you to concern yourself with something you have no control over whatsoever.
vbfgsxjndygtkj: Abstinence is the best policy to prevent sexual diseases. Children
I was tempted to reply to vbfgsxjndygtkj's idiotic reply but the point really is that the United States, in fact, has a less than replacement birth rate very similar to Europe. It's because of immigration that we continue to have a growing population. I think it is important to watch the developments in China as they work through their demographic changes with their one-child policy. Though, lots of exemptions exist to the policy, overall, the demographic is changing.
jaelstruth: I was tempted to reply to vbfgsxjndygtkj's idiotic reply but
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Posted: 07/10/2012 11:51 am Updated: 07/10/2012 11:52 am