ALIGARH, The Department of Community Medicine, Jawaharlal Nehru Medical College, Aligarh Muslim University, organized a week-long Family Planning Services and Couple Counselling Programme at the Urban Health Training Centre (UHTC) from July 6 to 11 to mark World Population Day 2026. The programme was conducted under the guidance of Prof. Uzma Eram, Chairperson, Department of Community Medicine, and the supervision of Dr Ali Jafar Abedi, Medical In-charge, UHTC, and Dr Suboohi Afzal, Chief Lady Medical Officer, UHTC.
Organized under the theme ‘Realising the Hopes and Aspirations of Young People: Today and for the Future’, the programme aimed to promote responsible parenthood, informed reproductive choices, and population stabilization through health education and individualized counselling.
A dedicated Couple Counselling Centre was established at UHTC to provide confidential counselling on family planning, contraception, birth spacing, and reproductive health. Special emphasis was laid on delaying the first pregnancy, maintaining adequate birth spacing, promoting the small family norm, and encouraging informed use of appropriate contraceptive methods to improve maternal and child health.
Senior Residents Dr. Iram Abid and Dr.Shaista Parveen, along with Junior Residents Dr.Nishu Malik, Dr.Shafia Shafiq, and Dr. Anchal Negi, actively counselled eligible couples on reproductive health, modern contraceptive methods, planned pregnancies, and responsible parenthood while addressing common myths and misconceptions related to family planning.
Interns prepared and displayed awareness posters highlighting the importance of family planning and healthy birth spacing. Sister Neha ensured the availability of contraceptives and IEC materials throughout the programme and distributed condoms and oral contraceptive pills to eligible beneficiaries after appropriate counselling.
The programme gave special attention to counselling newly married couples and couples with a single child on delaying the first pregnancy and maintaining healthy birth intervals, while couples with two or more children were encouraged to adopt suitable family planning methods to prevent unintended pregnancies and promote responsible parenthood.
Source : Aligarh Muslim University News