Madam, - China's one-child policy has long been deplored by the international health community as a violation of people's human right to freely decide the number of their children. The health community has also criticised it as a spur for prenatal sex selection which is leading to gender imbalances in Chinese society.
Thomas Finegan (April 23rd) is quite right in joining the health community to voice concern about this policy. However, his letter misrepresents both the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the International Planned Parenthood Federation's (IPPF) work in China. UNFPA does not support or fund the one-child policy, and the Chinese Family Planning Association, an IPPF member, does not provide any clinical services, including abortion services.
Both IPPF and UNFPA work to promote human rights by demonstrating the advantages of the voluntary, informed consent-based family planning approach.
The Chinese Family Planning Association (CFPA) provides innovative and comprehensive education and training services which address rising sexual and reproductive ill health, particularly among young people and other vulnerable groups. CFPA is completely against the use of force. Its constitution commits it to pursue work based on "the principle of voluntary and informed choices". UNFPA's programme in China supports expanded access to comprehensive reproductive healthcare, including family planning, skilled birth attendance, emergency obstetric care and the prevention and treatment of sexually transmitted infections, including HIV/Aids.
In the initial 32 Chinese counties assisted by UNFPA, the impact has been a decline in maternal deaths, an increase in skilled attendance at birth, a drop in abortion rates and significant increases in knowledge of modern contraceptive methods, natural methods and choice of contraception.
The pilot projects that were used to introduce and teach the voluntary approach to family planning are being copied in about 800 Chinese counties. These counties contain more than 360 million people who, like everyone else in the world, have the basic human right to learn about and gain from the voluntary approach to family planning.
Numerous high-level policy and multi-faith delegations, as well as Amnesty International, reported finding no evidence that UNFPA supports forced abortion or coercive sterilisation. Several democratic governments have stated that UNFPA's presence is a constant reminder to Chinese authorities to respect international human rights standards and is key to promoting human rights.
- Yours, etc,
NIALL BEHAN, Chief Executive, Irish Family Planning Association, Amiens Street, Dublin 1.