The Enugu state government, in conjunction with IntegratE Project and four other groups have facilitated the access of about 239,795 families to family planning in the state.
The IntegratE Project, which began in 2021, provided women with over 10,103 oral pills as well as 190,878 condoms to assist in their sexual and reproductive health.
The Project also trained about 303 health personnel and about 105 people without proper medical knowledge but offer Medicare like the patent medical dealers popularly known as chemists.
The IntegratE Project Regional Programme Manager for Southern Region, comprising Lagos and Enugu, Jennifer Ladokun, who disclosed this in Enugu during a one-day Enugu State IntegratE Mid-Project Dissertation Meeting, held at Adig Suites, described sexual and reproductive health as key, hence the five partners, including Enugu state government as well as the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria came together to kick start the project.
Ladokun said the Project ensured that they built the capacity of those they trained to enable them offer good family planning services.
She said that what prompted the training of the medical personnel for family planning was occasioned by the exodus of quality medical personnel from Nigeria to overseas for greener pastures thereby leaving a lacuna.
“We had exodus of health providers who travelled overseas and we had to train medical helps to carry out healthcare delivery.”
Speaking at the occasion, the Enugu state Commissioner for Health, Prof. Emmanuel Ikechukwu Obi, represented by Barr. Mrs Lovina Ene, Legal head of the ministry, commended the partners who he said have worked tirelessly to ensure better and quality healthcare delivery in the state especially as it concerned sexual and reproductive health.
Obi commended them for their achievements so far since the Programme began three years ago in 2021.
Speaking in like manner, Executive Secretary, Enugu State Primary Healthcare Programme, Mrs. Ifeyinwa Ani-Osheku, commended the partners for coming together to do something about sexual and reproductive health. She said that the IntegratE was meant to upscale people who render quality family planning services.
On his part, the Chief Deputy Project Director of Society for Family Health, SFH, Pharmacist Michael Alagbile, said that the IntegratE Mid-Project Dissertation Meeting was organised for them to give the scorecard of what the Project had done since inception to the stakeholders in family planning.
Alagbile said that the Project empowered communities and women as well created opportunity for the young ones to have access, “to quality healthcare.”
He said that they were able to train medical personnel who in turn would teach the community what he called ‘injectibles and implants.’
239,795 families access family planning in Enugu’
