Pakistan bans TV contraceptive adverts

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Condoms are shown to a group of women during a safe sex education class in Sawabi in the conservative Muslim Pashtun belt of western Pakistan (file photo)Image source, Getty Images
Image caption,
Pakistan now has a population of more than 200m

Pakistani authorities have banned all broadcast advertisements for contraceptives.

The regulator, Pakistan Electronic Media Regulatory Authority (Pemra), said there had been public complaints that they prompted curiosity in "innocent children".

Pakistan is a socially conservative country and such commercials were already rare.

Pakistan, the world's sixth most populous nation, has a lower rate of access to birth control than the average for the region, according to the World Health Organization.