The United Nations projects that next year, India will surpass China and claim the title of the world’s most populous country. India’s population growth has actually been slowing down for many decades, thanks to comprehensive family planning — but the burden mostly falls on women.
Tanzania was one of the first countries in sub-Saharan Africa to embrace family planning. But current president John Magufuli made headlines when he said he does “not see any need for birth control,” asserting that population growth is actually an economic boon to the East African nation.
Some women admit they would rather have HIV than heart disease because at least it wouldn’t interfere with fertility and family planning. They often go through high-risk pregnancies and other health complications due to pressures from their communities to have children at all cost.