Lara Adejoro The Federal Government has put in place measures to pay the 2023 and 2024 counterpart contributions for the supply of Family Planning commodities. This was disclosed by the Special Adviser to the President on Health, Dr Salma Anas-Ibrahim on Friday in Abuja at a symposium organised by the Development Research and Project Centre in collaboration with the Population Association of Nigeria to commemorate the United Nations World Population Day. The symposium was themed, “Embracing the power of inclusive data towards a resilient and equitable future for all’.
Anas-Ibrahim said President Bola Tinubu is committed to ensuring that reproductive, maternal, newborn, child, adolescent, and elderly health plus nutrition and family planning are prioritised so that no woman or child is left behind. She stated, “In line with this commitment, the government has paid the 2022 counterpart contribution for the supply of FP commodities and efforts are underway to pay the 2023, and 2024 contributions. “However, what we are committing to going forward, is to institute a more sustainable mechanism for the timely release of government counterpart funding for FP services.
Part of this mechanism will also consider how states can be encouraged to commit to investing in FP commodities procurement, thereby engendering greater ownership at the sub-national levels for greater sustainability. “Considering the impact of FP services on reduction of maternal deaths, integration of FP programme within the broader RMNCAEH+N programming is another strategy that RMNCAEH+N advocates and practitioners consider a more sustainable way to help significantly scale up FP services acceptance and utilization. This approach aligns with the Renewed Hope Health Agenda’s priority area on comprehensive and integration of health care services.
” The special adviser noted that the current administration has identified the role of greater private sector involvement in ensuring universal health coverage for all Nigerians. She said the National Private Sector Engagement Strategic Plan for FP is one of the important national frameworks for achieving the objective, as it allows the private sector to contribute meaningfully to the implementation of FP programmes in all aspects including procurements, local manufacturing, storage, Last Mile Distribution, resource mobilisation, social marketing, capacity building, and innovation. The President of the Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria, Prof Okechukwu Ikpeze said FP is critical if one considers the rapid population growth in Nigeria.
He stated, “In the past, a lot of children died because women wanted a certain number just so if some died, they would still have some number of children there. But we are moved past that now. “There are some countries with limitations on the number of offspring allowed and they are doing better than us.
But here, we think numerous children are an asset and we need to address this.” He, however, noted that the resources to care for the children are not there. In his presentation, the Chairman of the Management Committee, Association for the Advancement of Family Planning, Dr Ejike Oji, said the greatest disservice to FP in Nigeria is the inadequate supply of consumables “The greatest disservice to FP in Nigeria is the inadequate supply of consumables and supplies this forces us to pay user fees even though the contraceptives are free,” he added.
Oji lamented low awareness of family planning methods and the use of contraceptives. Meanwhile, 13 journalists were recognised for their entries in the Primary Healthcare Accountability Reporting Media Challenge organised by the Nigerian Academy of Medicine, and the dRPC. The 13 journalists were selected based on the quality of their stories, depth of work, writing style, and the ethics of reporting.
The News Editor of the International Centre for Investigative Journalism, Marcus Fatunmole took the first position, while a Senior Correspondent with The PUNCH, Lara Adejoro, won the runner-up award. Also, a former PREMIUM TIMES Senior Reporter, Nike Adebowale-Tambe clinched the second runner-up award position. Copyright PUNCH All rights reserved.
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