Recently was published, by the United Nations Population Fund, State of world population 1999 report? that, among other means, he also had dissemination through the Diario La Republica of ancestor Sunday. It struck me that figure almost demonic of six billion people today living on this planet. 6,000,000,000 of human beings who eat, drink, sleep, using public services, spend, reproduce, Exchange, are transported and, finally, minute by minute with all the daily adversities struggle to survive the sixty-six years on average lasting its ephemeral existence. Of course, the greatest proportion of the growth of 78 million beings each year suffers it third world, with all the consequences that this brings, contrary to what happens in Europe, North America and Japan where growth, via increase in birth rate, virtually froze. Then are the poorest countries which must bear the greater part of this terrible onslaught of humans on renewable and non-renewable natural resources, biodiversity, ecosystems, the environment and everything that made up the huge and unique wealth of those Nations.

Corollaries of this disproportionate growth: 4,800 million people inhabiting the countries developing, some two thousand nine hundred million lack basic sanitation, almost six hundred thousand million lack access to clean water, two hundred thousand million lack adequate housing, nearly one billion do not have access to modern health services, and in the less developed regionsone-fifth of children does not reach the fifth grade of primary or basic education. But if six billion human beings on this tiny planet in the universe makes us a lot of people who we can say of the overcrowding that our great-grandchildren will live! Soon, in 2050 nothing more, this huge figure will have grown by 50%: they will then be human, about nine thousand million, and so on until only God knows when. Now us We reproduce much less rapidly that twenty years ago, reason by which we will have a demographic dividend that should result in a growth of savings and investments in poor countries. But that will not suffice. Modern democracies should make a special effort to expand much more coverage of their health and education services, fundamental pillars of human development, this issue that passes through successful anti-corruption campaigns and the strengthening of the social policies of States. Yes. If population grew as it is projected for the next century, will be indispensable, increasingly, some ruling classes with more heart and less pockets, with more values and less personal interest, with more willingness to act for the benefit of the vulnerable and less commitments with the powerful.

If not, mankind, every day more abundant and more poor, come at a time of intolerance in which only think make bad what their Governments were unwilling to remedy by the democratic, institutional and legal means. At that time we will begin to decrease rapidly.