From DIANA BROWN
Paul Harrison’s excellent article tends to oversimplify the ‘neo- Malthusian’
position (‘Too much life on Earth?’, 19 May). Population Concern, the UK
organisation prominent in this field, would endorse most of his arguments.
We would certainly not claim that population growth is responsible for most
of the developing world’s ills, but we do say that it is a very significant
factor, and one that is consistently underplayed or even ignored.
It is also clear that, given the exponential nature of population growth,
doing too little now can have a very large effect later on. As Harrison
says, while reducing population growth will not have short-term effect,
it should not be neglected in favour of short-term measures.
Allowing access to a choice of methods of family planning is not just
aimed at reducing the size of future populations. It can contribute to a
much better quality of life now, particularly for women and children, since
spacing births is an important factor in reducing infant and maternal ill
health and mortality.
Diana Brown, Chairman Population Concern London
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