And Then There Were 7 Billion

Sunday night baby girl, Danica May Camacho was born in Manilla's Jose Fabella Memorial Hospital in the Philippines. The family was presented with gifts including a scholarship for Danica May, and a livelihood package to enable the family to start a general store according to the Sydney Morning Herald.

Also there to witness the arrival of baby number 7 Billion, was Lorrize Mae Guevarra, who was declared the world's symbolic 6 billionth baby in 1999 and is now in the sixth grade.

Where it took over a century to grow from 1 billion in 1804, to 2 billion in 1927, the population growth exploded in the 20th century, and we reached 3 billion in 1960, 4 billion in 1975, 5 billion in 1987 and 6 billion in 1999.  Now at 7 billion, Worldometers shows it is expected that the population growth will slow down, and that we will not reach 8 billion until 2027, then 9 billion in 2046. However, since little Danica May's arrival, the world has already welcomed over another 177,000 babies.

As we pass 7 billion, we also face challenges. UN Secretary-General  Ban Ki-moon stated last week that

"Seven billion will clearly be a serious challenge. But depending on how we address this, in a comprehensive manner it can be both an opportunity and challenge."  Ban said he suspected the 7 billionth citizen would face "a world of contradiction -- plenty of food, but still a billion people going to bed hungry every night. Many people enjoy luxurious lifestyles, but still many people are impoverished."

Ban said the milestone was "clearly a clarion call to action," not just for the United Nations and national governments, but also for "local communities, civil community leaders, non-governmental organizations, faith leaders -- we have to have a combined solidarity to address this issue."

My suggestion?  Like Ted Turner states on CNN, I believe strongly that voluntary family planning, and full access to BIRTH CONTROL needs to play a big role in how we address our future challenges with population growth. I know some faiths consider that wrong, but is it less wrong to have mothers die in childbirth so that the children grow up without a mother?  Is it less wrong for an already impoverished family to bring another child into the world whom they cannot afford to feed, when if given the choice, they might have chosen to wait? 

When nearly all projected growth is expected to occur in developing countries in Asia, Africa and Latin America, is it not time to give them the option not to have any more children?  According to the World Health Organization, pregnancy and childbirth complications are the leading cause of death for women in developing countries during childbearing years.  If given information and the choice, there is no question in my mind that many of these women would choose to space out and time the birth of their children, like most of us do here. And I am convinced such easy solution actually will have the biggest impact as we continue to grow. Should I dare to point out that it is in countries where women for the most part are given less rights and often considered substandard to men, that we have the biggest problems?  So maybe it is time to change that too, and give women better control over their own lives.