Nasarawa State government is yet to release the sum of N30 million earmarked for prosecuting its Family Planning programme in the 2022 appropriation.
The development, it was gathered, has stalled the programme’s activities across the state.
This was revealed at a one-day media forum on the status of Family Planning in the state, organised by Pathfinder International in collaboration with Community Link for Health and Family Planning Advocacy (CLHFPA), on Thursday in Lafia, the state capital.
Speakers at the event decried the lack of political will on the part of the state government to invest in the Family Planning initiative, intended to curb maternal and child mortality.
Community Link for Health and Family Planning Advocacy (CLHFPA), a coalition of civil society groups, said a situation where the Family Planning budget will drag to the last quarter of the year, was not healthy for the health sector.
Mrs Mary Asheneye, leader of the coalition and secretary, Mr Kalu I. Kalu, its secretary, commended the state government for reviewing the Family Planning budget from a paltry N5 to N30 million per year in the 2022 budget while noting that prompt release of the sum will hasten the implementation of the programme.
However, the representative of the commissioner of health in the state and coordinator of Family Planning, Salomi Aya said the state government has been doing all within its powers to support all efforts aimed at institutionalizing family planning in the state.
She said the sustained advocacy and support by Pathfinder International, the CLHFPA as well as other collaborators has led to the reduction of maternal and infant mortality in the state.
She commended the media for the active role it’s playing along with other partners in driving the family planning messages, adding that traditional and religious leaders, who were initially reluctant, are now keying into the initiative.
She, however, said a lot needed to be done in getting women and men in rural communities to embrace the use of contraceptives and other preventive methods.
Representatives of Pathfinder International, Bayo Ewuola and Kosi Izundu said the advocacy was intended to strengthen the capacity of the media to effectively report public health issues in the state.
They said the initiative has been yielding dividends with many women embracing child spacing and antenatal as well as other means aimed at averting birth complications.
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