20m Nigerian women lack access to family planning services – UNFP

By Ajuma Edwina Ogiri and Adeola Tukuru,Abuna Abuja

Th e United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), has revealed that no fewer than 20 million women in Nigeria have no access to safe and eff ective Family Planning (FP) services. Th e UNFPA’s Country Representative, Dr. Diene Keita, disclosed this at an event to mark the 2017 World Population Day (WPD), in Abuja. Dr. Keita, who was represented by the Assistant Country Representative of UNFPA in Nigeria, Osaretin Adonri, said most of the women that had no access to modern FP method reside in rural areas and region of insurgency in the country. He said that fulfi lling unmet demand for FP in Nigeria would avert 750,000 unintended pregnancies and reduce the estimated over 40,000 annual maternal deaths by one third. According to him, UNFPA has contributed to two per cent increase in FP between 2003 and 2013 in Nigeria base on the National Demographic Health Survey.

He further added that the Fund had also contributed to a near doubling of modern contraceptive use worldwide, from 36 per cent in 1970 to 67 per cent in 2016. Th e country representative stated that in spite of this dramatic progress, there were still enormous challenges as about 214 million women in developing countries can not access safe and eff ective FP methods. He noted that fulfi lling their unmet demand would save lives by averting 67 million unintended pregnancies and thereby reducing by one third the estimated 303,000 annual maternal deaths. Keita said: “Family planning therefore is critical to achieving Sustainable Development Goal 1, to end poverty. “It is also key to achieving other goals such as ending hunger as well as promoting good health and gender equality.

“UNFPA has set an ambitious, transformative goal to eliminate all unmet demand for family planning by 2030.” Keita therefore called on governments and other stakeholders to work hard in achieving the goals. However, as a strategy to control and avert the implication of rapid population growth in order to achieve sustainable development goals, stakeholders have called for increased budgetary allocation for family planning.

Speaking on the 2017 WPD theme, Family Planning, Birth Spacing: Empowering People, Developing Nations, the chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Chief Eze Duruiheoma, stated that family planning and birth spacing are measures to attain a sustainable family size, by way of allowing for adequate intervals between births, especially the use of contraception. Duruiheoma said: “Family planning is not only about saving lives but also empowering people and developing nations. Family and birth spacing are personal decisions but their profound implication on health, economic and social wellbeing of the society are far reaching.

Th at is why simple individual decision has become a developmental agenda that must be addressed on a sustainable.” Global World Population Day is celebrated on July 11th every year. It is a global day to focus attention on the urgency and importance of population issues. Th is year’s theme emphasises on how access to safe, voluntary family planning is a human right

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