Pakistan public demonstrates for safe motherhood

Crowds packed the center of Faisalabad, Pakistan, on February 4 in a public demonstration to highlight safe motherhood. Marchers in 3 processions carried banners and placards about the need for safe motherhood through different parts of Faisalabad. Then thousands converged on the city center to hear city officials and medical specialists stress the need to protect the lives of mothers and babies. People of all ages and from all walks of life joined the demonstration that was organized by Faisalabad's Mother and Child Welfare Association. The association's president Professor Altaf Bashir, head of gynecology and obstetrics at Punjab Medical College, told the crowd it is the motherless child who is most aware of the need to preserve mothers lives. "We must do our best to create public awareness of the importance of mothers' health," she said. "We demand from the government that they should take practical steps in this holy mission for the betterment of mothers." Muslim League chairman Ghulam Hussain Shahid told listeners that members of the community should join forces in helping to save mothers' lives. Provincial Minister Mohammad Akram spoke of the need to reduce maternal deaths to the level of developed countries. "Healthy women will produce healthy children," he said.