The efficacy of prevention: improving the status of children in southern Africa.

Population size is growing rapidly in southern Africa in the context of constrained resources, sociopolitical turmoil, and weak economies. Child health suffers as a result. Smaller families and a reduced rate of population growth would, however, reduce the level of demand upon available resources. A comparatively greater share of resources would therefore be available for investment in each child. It tends to be taboo to publicly endorse population control in southern Africa. It is instead common practice in Africa to attach great value to large-sized families. These prevailing religious, cultural, political, and ideological beliefs opposed to political control over fertility should be respected. In the interest of maximizing child survival, however, people in the region must begin to understand that the large-family norm is outdated and that they should try to understand when population control policies can be effective. Indeed, the economic and political situations in the region warrant the discussion of population control mechanisms, with understanding in the interest of communal well-being rather than individual self-determination.