AFTER capturing the attention of the nation with its “Two is better that too many” campaign in the 1970s, the National Family Planning Board (NFPB) has seemingly reached its best-by date with Jamaica’s birthrate now below the two births per woman mark.

The Jamaica Observer has confirmed that after more than 50 years of operation the NFPB is to be shuttered next month with its services subsumed into its parent entity
— the Ministry of Health and Wellness.

“July 31, 2024 we will no longer exist as an agency or a public body, we will be a division of the Ministry of Health,” NFPB Principal Director Dr Lovette Byfield reportedly told staff recently.

Sunday Observer sources say Dr Byfield pointed out that the functions of the NFPB will be taken over by the Family Health Unit of the health ministry and current staff members can apply for jobs with the ministry directly. According to the sources, staff members have already received their full severance payments.

Established in 1967 the NFPB was given a mandate to lead the country’s sexual and reproductive health information by conducting research, developing campaigns and disseminating information on sexual and reproductive health services in the island while distributing contraceptives.

Among its most memorable and effective campaigns was one about ‘Bev Brown’, the maths brains from primary school who went begging at a former schoolmate’s house with her four children clutching to any part of her body they could.

At that time the country’s birthrate was trending down slightly from six children to every woman in the 1960s.

Now the latest figures show the birth rate for Jamaica in 2024 is less than two children for every woman at 14.859 births per 1,000 people, a 1.64 per cent decline from last year.

The birth rate for Jamaica in 2023 was 15.107 births per 1,000 people, a 1.46 per cent decline from 2022 which is a shade lower than 2021.

Confirming the planned closure of the NFPB as an institution, Minister of Health and Wellness Dr Christopher Tufton did not link the closure of the agency to the declining birth rate.

He instead pointed out that this does not mean the functions of the NFPB will be scrapped.

“It is being incorporated into a wider body in the ministry and the functions will continue to be carried out. That was approved by the Cabinet and was spoken about in the Parliament. So what is important is that the issues around family planning, sex education and all the other related family planning matters will be conducted still within the Ministry of Health and Wellness but it will not be a separate body from the ministry,” said Tufton.

“So there is no need to be alarmed on this. In fact, we see synergies that can take place which will make the unit more effective in terms of how we collaborate and coordinate within the ministry,” added Tufton as he pointed out that the National Health Fund will take over the distribution of birth control items.