Respected senior and leading doctor in Papua New Guinea, Professor Glen Mola, Gynecologist at the Port Moresby General Hospital, Obstetrics and Gynecology Department has sounded the alarm on PNG’s fast-growing population, calling it a “national emergency” and urging urgent investment in family planning, education, and reproductive health services. In a high-level panel discussion to commemorate “World Population Day” hosted by Marie Stopes PNG in partnership with UNFPA, Prof. Mola highlighted that nearly 50% of the country’s population is under 18, raising serious questions about how the nation can cope with the demands of such a young demographic. “How on earth can you manage a country where half the population is under 19?” he asked. "You can't do much when you're 17. The demographic dividend depends on people who can do stuff.” Prof. Mola pointed to comparisons with countries like China, which implemented strict population policies to control growth and invest in its future. By contrast, PNG’s population has surged from 1.9 million in 1960 to an estimated 15 million today, with some regions seeing girls as young as teenagers arriving in cities, pregnant and without support. “We don’t meet people until they’re already pregnant,” he said. “And many girls are abandoned by their boyfriends before they even get medical help.” He emphasized the need for stronger sexual and reproductive health education, citing tragic cases of maternal deaths, illegal abortions, and babies dying in hospitals. The weekly mortality reviews in his department, he said, are heartbreaking. “We review 31 dead babies every Friday. Could we have saved them? Maybe — if we had better care, better planning, and fewer pregnancies.” A key message throughout his speech was family size: “The right number is two,” he repeated. “Too many babies mean no future for our families, and no future for PNG.” Despite education being seen globally as a solution to population growth, he warned that even tertiary-educated parents in PNG are having up to seven children, citing affordability and lack of long-term planning. “One couple earning over K8,000 a fortnight had their seventh child,” he said. “It’ll cost over a million kina to educate all of them — have they thought about that?” He called for a reorientation of the education system to focus not just on knowledge, but on implementation in everyday life. “We’re not implementing what we learn. And if we don’t start now, we’ll keep failing our children.” Prof. Mola closed with a stark message: the time for polite discussions is over. PNG’s future depends on acting now with urgency, honesty, and bold family planning measures.