By Richard Grossman MD | 17 April 2025
Population Matters-USA
I apologize for my president, and for my lateness
I am infuriated by the current president of the United States of America. He has cut funding for many worthy projects, including USAID. Although FP2030 receives funding from many sources, the USA has been a major donor to family planning programs. I can only hope that other, more altruistic countries and private foundations will step in to fill the void.
Thank you if you have donated to a family planning agency in the USA or elsewhere.
A little about myself. I’m 81 years old and have been gifted with good health–or at least with good health with the aid of good doctors and good medication. However, for about a year and a half I have been fighting bladder cancer. It has been a stalemate–neither the cancer nor I have won this battle. I have decided to have surgery to remove my bladder in June. First, however, Gail and I will be going to Florence, Italy to sing with the Durango Choral Society. This trip was originally planned for 2020, but postponed because of the pandemic.
Richard
FP2030
Last month I wrote about the coalition of rich and poor countries, of foundations and nonprofits that delivered family planning to 46 million women—FP2020. Its successor, FP2030, has continued the same work, but with some changes.
One of the involved nonprofits, the Margaret Pyke Trust (MPT), has introduced a new direction for FP2030. It has connected the growth of the human population with the decrease in biodiversity, and is doing something about it.
Population, Health and Environment (PHE) programs are not new. The recent book “Walking with Gorillas” was written by the first wildlife veterinarian in Uganda, Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka. The growing human population threatens wildlife in at least two ways. People take over the habitat of the animals, and some human diseases, such as scabies, were passed to animals. Of course, wildlife also threaten people! As humans push into areas where the animals had lived, the animals sometimes attack humans or destroy their gardens. They also have introduced diseases to humans, such as Ebola. Kalema-Zikusoka was so concerned about conflict between wildlife and humans that she started a PHE program which provides basic healthcare, contraception and environmental education, to the farmers.
When you write a book, it’s important to have people read and relate to your story, and maybe even feel inspired to follow their dreams.
That's why I was so excited to find out that my book, Walking With Gorillas, is selling well at @bookstoreplus in Lake Placid, upstate New… pic.twitter.com/IC3lSVvEe8
— Gladys K Zikusoka (@DoctorGladys) February 17, 2025
Several years ago, I wrote about a PHE program on the bank of the Amazon River. It had a small health clinic with educational programs. Their family planning program was unique. There are no roads in the area—all transportation is by boat. Because the clinic worked on a shoestring budget, a long-acting contraceptive method would be advantageous. Villagers couldn’t afford a trip to the clinic except for an emergency. The solution was to have a boat go up and down the river 4 times a year. A health worker gave DepoProvera shots (which last 3 months) to women who wanted birth control.
The Margaret Pyke Trust is a British organization that specializes in education about reproductive health and contraception. Their new campaign, “Thriving Together”, started recently and already has over 150 organizations supporting it. Its goal is to build a movement recognizing “…that family planning is critically important not only women and girls, but also for the environment.” Furthermore, the head of MPT wrote: “…the existence of barriers to family planning is the most important ignored environmental challenge of our day.”
I cannot agree more! I remember when two of the top environmental nonprofits in the USA (National Audubon Society and the Sierra Club) recognized the effect of overpopulation on the environment and had active population groups. Now, the Center for Biological Diversity is the only major organization with that recognition; there are 6 people on its Population and Sustainability Team.
Access to family planning isn't a luxury—it's a right.
Every person, everywhere, deserves the power to decide if, when, and how to grow their family. At FP2030, we’re building a future where that power is universal.
What has family planning made possible for you? Share your… pic.twitter.com/9aeukxJzNJ
— FP2030 (@FP2030Global) April 7, 2025
Although MPT will not provide clinical services as a part of FP2030, they will probably have a greater impact than if they did. Instead, they will be working with national governments to develop policies. Specifically, they plan to work with all the countries that have signed the UN Convention on Biological Diversity, which requires each state to have a biodiversity plan. MPT will offer their expertise with a new document “Reproductive choice in national biodiversity policy”.
One of the goals of this MPT program is to increase reproductive choice knowledge for several thousand people working in the fields of biodiversity and climate. They have made this possible by joining a number of international organizations, including the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change. They are the first and only group in these organizations with reproductive health expertise.
To me, one of the best parts of the MPT is that they talk about “removing barriers to family planning”; they are careful to not pressure people into using contraception. Moreover, they are working to slow the extinction crisis.
Reprinted with permission from the author.
Richard Grossman became concerned about overpopulation in high school and chose a medical path to work in the field. He practiced gynecology and obstetrics, including abortion care, for 40 years in Southwest Colorado. Now retired, he writes a monthly essay on aspects of human population. If you like his blog, www.population-matters.org, you can subscribe using the form at the bottom of the page.
Doctor Richard Grossman
Walking With Gorillas by Dr. Gladys Kalema-Zikusoka at Alliance Française de Nairobi
Sir David Attenborough on overpopulation
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