Pakistan has banned broadcast advertisements for all contraceptives, including birth control and family planning products.
The national regulator, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (PERMA), said on May 28 that there had been public complaints that the advertisements prompted curiosity in “innocent children.”
“The general public is very much concerned about the exposure of such products to the innocent children, which get inquisitive on features and use of the products,” PERMA said in a statement.
Television channels and radio stations that do not comply with the ban will face “legal action under PEMRA laws,” the statement said, although no specific punishment was mentioned.
The ban comes despite a government initiative to encourage birth control in Pakistan, a conservative Muslim country of 180 million people where discussing sex in public is taboo.
Pakistan is the sixth most populous country in the world, with a population growth rate of 1.92 percent, according to the government. Its population is projected to increase to more than 227 million by 2025.
