Bauchi records 6.2 fertility rate, 22.2% unmet family planning needs — Survey

Bauchi has recorded a total fertility rate of 6.2 children per woman, while 22.2 per cent of women have an unmet need for family planning, according to the 2023–2024 Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS).

The survey also put the state’s modern contraceptive prevalence rate at 10.6 per cent.

Executive Chairman, Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Development Board, Dr Rilwanu Mohammed, disclosed this on Monday at a town hall meeting organised to commemorate the 2026 World Contraception Day at the board’s headquarters.

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Mohammed said the figures highlighted both the challenges facing family planning in the state and the need to expand access to contraceptive services.

“This figure demonstrates both the magnitude of the challenges and the opportunity before us. A significant number of women who want to delay, space or limit pregnancies are still unable to access or use available contraceptive methods,” he said.

He, however, said the state government under Governor Bala Abdulkadir Mohammed had continued to demonstrate commitment to addressing the gap through increased investment in family planning services.

According to him, the state had adopted the national guideline for state-funded procurement of family planning commodities, thereby strengthening government ownership and domestic financing of essential contraceptive methods.

He said the commitment was further demonstrated through the allocation of about N50 million for the procurement of family planning commodities, including injectables and implants.

“Such investment is critical because availability of commodities at the point of service is central to ensuring that women and couples who make the choice and decide to use contraception can actually obtain their preferred method when they need it,” he said.

Mohammed added that the state had expanded access to family planning services by increasing service delivery points from 610 to 713, bringing services closer to communities.

He, however, noted that physical availability of services alone was not enough, stressing the need to address commodity stock-outs, improve forecasting and distribution, strengthen the capacity of healthcare workers and ensure that clients received respectful, confidential and quality counselling.

“As the state government agency, Bauchi State Primary Healthcare Board, we remain committed to strengthening family planning into our primary healthcare services and ensuring that women and couples have access to a broader range of safe and effective methods based on informed and voluntary choice,” he said.

He said the board would continue to work with the Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, local governments, development partners and communities to strengthen commodity security, service delivery and demand generation.

Mohammed described family planning as a shared responsibility and called on husbands and men to support their spouses in making informed reproductive health decisions.

He also urged traditional and religious leaders, community leaders, civil society organisations and the media to help address misinformation, misconceptions and social barriers that could discourage families from accessing family planning services.

“To our healthcare workers, I urge you to continue treating every client with dignity and confidentiality and respect. Every woman and couple deserve correct information and the freedom to choose the contraceptive method that meets their individual needs and circumstances,” he said.

On possible side effects of contraceptive methods, Mohammed said clients could return to health facilities for counselling and a change of method where necessary.

“In case any woman or any couple choose any method and there is a problem, maybe reaction, excessive bleeding, she can even change. She can even come back, and we can change another method for her.

“Maybe her own body is not the same, cannot cope with that choice that she has chosen. So we can change it for her,” he said.

He appreciated development partners for their technical and financial support to the state, but called for increased government ownership, domestic financing and sustainability of family planning programmes.

Mohammed said the state government had increased its financial commitment, revealing that while N50 million was allocated for family planning commodity procurement the previous year, Governor Mohammed had approved N70 million for the current year.

He further disclosed that about N100 million had also been approved under another government programme as a matching grant to support funding from the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).

He said the state had chosen to procure the commodities through UNFPA, adding that measures had been put in place to ensure that the procurement process was completed more efficiently.

Mohammed said the government’s objective was to reduce the 22.2 per cent unmet need for family planning, increase the 10.6 per cent modern contraceptive prevalence rate and improve commodity availability across communities, particularly among underserved populations.

Also speaking, the Permanent Secretary of the Primary Healthcare Board, Irimiya Liman, stressed the importance of family planning to building healthy families and, by extension, a healthier society.

He appealed to traditional institutions and religious leaders to intensify awareness and encourage acceptance of the various family planning methods.

Earlier, the Family Planning Focal Person of the board, Maryam Dahiru, said the town hall meeting was organised to sensitise stakeholders and address misconceptions surrounding family planning services.

Dahiru emphasised the importance of family planning in promoting healthy families and a better society, as well as reducing unplanned pregnancies among married and unmarried women, including adolescent girls.