Title: A Strategy for Population Communication in Sri Lanka
Description: Communication may be defined as the sharing of information, ideas, opinions and beliefs. In other words, it includes all those processes by which people influence one another. Population communication received considerable impetus in 1973 when a Family Planning Communication Strategy Project was established in the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. The objectives of the project were two fold: a) to initiate mass media campaign aimed at selected targeted audiences to educate and motivate them to accept family planning and b) to impart population communication skills to field based extension workers so that their efficiency would improve. Further, in 1979, a Population Information Centre was established in the Ministry of Plan Implementation with the objective to collect, process and disseminate population information to individuals and organizations in Sri Lanka. In addition to these two main projects, there were other projects which had population communication inputs. These projects were a)  Workers education programme of the Ministry of Labour  b)Health education in the Ministry of Health c) Population education in schools in the Ministry of Education d) Demographic research and training at the University of Colombo e) Teaching of human reproduction and family planning and population dynamics in the Colombo Medical Faculty.

The relatively wide gap between knowledge and use of contraception calls for a new strategy for population communication in Sri Lanka. For merely having knowledge of family planning methods and their availability is not sufficient. Unless the average person recognizes the value of family planning for himself and his family, there will probably be little or no change in his thinking or behaviour no matter how much publicity is generated.

Therefore, interpersonal communication by the use of field workers needs to be given high priority in the next phase of the population communication programme in Sri Lanka. However, given the high level of literacy and the wide network of mass media channels in the country, continued use of mass media communication directed at specific target areas would further supplement and strengthen the interpersonal communication efforts.