Nigeria set to launch its Family Planning 2030 commitment

N  IGERIA is set to launch its Family Planning 2030 commitment in line with the global movement supporting the rights of women and girls to decide freely and for themselves if or when to have children.

This was disclosed by the Director, Department of Family Health, Federal Ministry of Health,  Dr Salma Anas-Kolo in her welcome address at a three-day virtual training for media practitioners organised by Rotary Action Group for Reproductive, Maternal and Child Health.

According to her, the launch is coming on the heels of the importance of family planning to meaningful sustainable development and the Federal government’s commitment to provision and uptake of family planning.

Dr Anas-Kolo stated that the Federal government was also set to increase the involvement of religious leaders with large followership in giving information about maternal and newborn health, nutrition and child spacing to ensure quality of life and nation-building.

She declared child death in Nigeria was still very high adding, “on a daily basis we have many women and children dying, larger than COVID-19. Every year, 40,000 to 50,000 women die from pregnancy and childbirth-related causes, but most of them are not reported.”

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Dr Anas-Kolo, while noting that over 90 per cent of these deaths in both mothers and children less than five years are preventable, stated “each life is important and every death of a woman or child should be accounted for.”

National Coordinator, National Family Planning Campaign Rotary RMCH Nigeria, Professor Emmanuel Adedolapo Lufadeju said family planning was important to improve the chances of child survival and population management urging increased media reporting on Family Planning issues for better sustainable development.

An expert in family health matters, Professor Abubakar Panti, who highlighted available methods of contraceptives, decried Nigeria’s high fertility rate.

According to him, “Nigeria is among the 10 countries with the highest fertility rate in the world, Lack of access to contraception contributes to this high fertility rate.

“The lifetime risk of a Nigerian woman dying during pregnancy and childbirth is 1 in 22, in contrast to developed countries estimate of 1 in 4900. Nigeria ranks fourth in the world’s highest countries with high maternal mortality. Family planning and use of contraceptives prevent pregnancy, thereby preventing maternal death.”