Rapid population growth is the most important and urgent matter of our times. The world population increased from 250 million at the beginning of the Christian Era to the current level of 4.5 billion and is estimated at 6 billion by the year 2000 AD. The annual rate of population increase was 0.5% during 19th century, 0.8% during the first half of 20th century, 1.8% in the 1950s, 2.0% in the 1960s, 2.1% between 1970–75 (peak) and declined to 1.9% between 1975–l9801–3. All over the world, socio—economic improvements, better nutrition, sanitary reforms and the success over many diseases, epidemics and famines caused a rapid decline in the death rate, and after a variable latent period was followed by a fall in fertility rates with the resultant decline in population growth rates in most regions of the world except in Africa and in the Middle East.