World Contraception Day, Lagos First Lady, Health Commissioner harp on benefits of family planning

CHINYERE IKEANYI

The First Lady of Lagos State, Dr. (Mrs.) Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, has called on all stakeholders to join forces and chart a course towards effective funding of family planning services in Lagos State.

Mrs. Sanwo-Olu made the call just as the state Commissioner for Health, Professor Akinola Abayomi,

They both spoke on Tuesday at the “Business Roundtable on Family Planning” to commemorate the 2021 World Contraception Day, held at Radisson Blu Hotel, Ikeja, Lagos, on Tuesday.

According to the First Lady, the socio-economic benefits of family planning cannot be overemphasized, as it leads to female empowerment and economic enhancement, adding that it ensures a woman has adequate time to achieve her career goals.

She stated: ”Family planning, as we all know, is an informed decision by an individual or a couple on how many children to have and when to have them. It involves the use of modern contraceptive methods to adequately space pregnancies. Family planning prevents birth-related complications for both mother and child and has the long-term benefits of empowering women and reducing poverty.

“Families that have the number of children they can afford to train are able to devote more resources to providing them with adequate food, education, clothing, shelter, and other necessities. There is no gainsaying that family planning enables women to pursue their educational and career aspirations, acquire more wealth, and in the long run, contribute to socio-economic development of their immediate communities.

“When women space their births effectively, they can recover from the previous birth, take care of themselves and the living child and bond with their children and spouses. The growing population in our state and nation has its attendant challenges such as increased rate of unemployment, high rate of poverty, growth of slums, poor access to sanitation, poor health, lack of or poor education and increased crime rates. One effective tool for tackling these problems is for families to have the number of children they can cater for”.

Mrs. Sanwo-Olu, however, observed that despite the benefits of family planning, it is disheartening to know that for many women, the right to decide when or whether to have children is being hindered by lack of access to safe and modern methods of contraceptives.

“For example, although contraceptive methods are provided free in public health facilities, user fees for consumables such as syringes and gloves have been found to be a barrier to family planning uptake”, she pointed out.

Speaking in the same vein in his opening remarks, the State Health Commissioner, Professor. Akin Abayomi, stated that family planning promoted maternal and child health and prevents morbidity; a tool for female empowerment; and that Increased access to Family Planning is an investment in national development.

Prof. Abayomi who  recognized that donors and partners have played a significant role in funding, procurement, and distribution of Family Planning commodities in Nigeria, however, said:“For sustainable results, we need to take deliberate steps towards creating enabling environment for indigenous private sector investment in Family Planning programming to promote true ownership, reduce over-dependency on donor funding, promote a well-functioning supply chain to ensure uninterrupted stock of commodities and consumables and address other barriers to contraceptive uptake in Lagos State”..

On the role of the Private Sector in Service Delivery, the Health Commissioner disclosed that in Lagos State, 65 per cent of the citizens patronize private health facilities for Antenatal Care, delivery and immunization, adding that  the private sector is also a major source of contraception, meeting the needs of 70 per cent of modern contraceptive users in the State.

He said evidence revealed that the demand for Family Planning (FP) services remained largely unmet in Lagos State; stating that about 30 per cent of women who want to space their births do not have access to modern contraceptives.

“Lagos State has made determined efforts over the years towards improving Family Planning services.  With the support of various stakeholders, the State developed key strategies for effective Family Planning implementation as documented in the Costed Implementation Plan. We have the highest modern contraceptive prevalence rate of 29 per cent for all women”, Prof. Abayomi said.

The theme of this year’s Roundtable was: A New Lagos, Family Planning, A Catalytic Pillar for Female Empowerment and Socio-Economic Development”.

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