ISLAMABAD — Pakistan suffers roughly 700,000 stillbirths every year, marking the highest figure worldwide, according to Prof. Shezad Ali Khan, Executive Director of the Health Services Academy (HSA). Speaking on Monday, he added that 42 out of every 1,000 infants die within their first month of life, giving the nation the worst global neonatal mortality rate since 1960.

Prof. Khan shared these statistics at a seminar hosted by the Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI), titled “Population Growth and Policy Coherence in Pakistan: Challenges and Pathways.” During his address, he emphasized that the country’s population dynamics cannot be fully grasped through a strictly medical perspective alone.

Highlighting a broader reproductive health crisis, Khan revealed that an estimated 48 percent of pregnancies nationwide are unintended. This leads to roughly 380,000 abortions each year, many of which take place via unsafe procedures at unregulated clinics, frequently resulting in severe complications and sepsis.

Additionally, 20 out of every 100 couples experience unmet family planning needs. Khan clarified that this shortfall stems from structural resource deficits rather than community pushback, proving that Pakistan’s demographic hurdles are rooted in systemic, rather than public, failures. Finally, he warned against heavily depending on externally driven terminology, which he cautioned could spark cultural resistance.