THE First Lady, Nana Konadu Agyeman Rawlings yesterday received the six billionth baby at a symbolic ceremony at the Maternity Ward of the nation?s leading hospital, Korle-Bu Teaching Hospital in Accra.

The baby boy, who weighed 3.9 kilogrammes becomes a celebrity. He was delivered at exactly 1.15 a.m. to Miss Joyce Dipkuu, a 29-year old mother of four and a pito brewer. The baby?s father Mr. Isaac Zibar, is self employed. Both parents come from Nandom in the Upper West Region. In Sarajevo, Bosnia, Mr. Kofi Annan, the UN Secretary General visited a maternity home to receive the world?s symbolic six billionth child.

October 12, 1999 was designated by the UN as the day of the six billionth child, a symbolic observation of a historic population milestone. Speaking at the ceremony Nana Konadu called on all to reflect on the negative effects of over population on the economies of developing countries.

She said since there is a great disparity between the level of development and the number of people living in the world, there is the need for all to make informed choices about family planning issues and have an ideal family size that can move uniformly with the level of development. She asked women to consider the pain and agony they go through during child birth and the toil that accompanies the caring of children and be able to negotiate for a manageable family size. The First lady described Ghana?s population rate at 19.5 million as alarming and said the number might double to 38 million by the year 2020 considering the growth rate of the population at four per cent per annum. The Minster of Health, Mr. Samuel Nuamah-Donkor, said the fertility rate in the country currently stands at 4.5 per cent having dropped from 5.5 in 1993 and said plans are still underway to further reduce the figure to its lowest minimum.

He said the celebration of the six billionth child should serve as an occasion for all to consider its impact regarding the quality of life and the pressure on existing facilities and resources and take family planning serious. Mr. Moses Mukasa, UNFPA?s Resident Representative said the world?s population is growing by 78 million people annually with the growth concentrated in countries fighting to make ends meet. He called on women to engage their husbands in dialogue when it comes to child bearing as a measure to control large population size.

Prof. George Benneh, Chairman of the National Population Council said out of the 19.5 million people in Ghana, nearly half of the number are below 15 years.