(12/1/2009)
Uncontrolled population growth remains a threat to Bali's future as the islands total fertility rate (TFR) continues to increase on a year to year basis.
The total fertility rate (TFR) is a scientific projection of the number of children the average woman in a given population will produce during the course of her lifetime. It is obtained by summing the single-year age-specific rates at a given time.
Bali's TFR for 2009 stands at 2.1 children, a figure lower than the national figure of 2.6 children, but substantially higher than the TFR rate of 1.9 recorded for Bali in 2003. In the course of only three years the TFR for women in Bali has increased a dramatic 15.8%.
These figure were revealed by the Head of the Bali Family Planning Agency (BKKBN), Drs. I Ketut Sutjita, at a conference on family planning held in Denpasar on November 23, 2009.
"Compared with other areas, such a Yogya, we are defeated as they have been able to reduce their TFR to 1.8. Meanwhile, in Bali, the TFR rate is on the increase," explained Sutjita.
Because of the increased levels of fertility the Bali family planning workers are stepping up socialization programs to educate the Balinese on birth control.
Religious leaders from Bali's Hindu organizations are also being mobilized and enlisted in the effort to reduce the island's fertility rates.
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