IBRAHIM RAMALAN writes on the just concluded 4th National Family Planning Conference (NFPC), a three-day Programme that drew experts and policy-makers from across the country and beyond to tackle the high rate of maternal mortality in Nigeria.
Statistics have shown that Nigeria’s current maternal mortality ratio is around 576 deaths per every 100,000 live births. This translates to about 40,000 Nigerian women dying every year, 111 dying every day, or 5 women dying every hour. This makes Nigeria home to the second largest number of maternal deaths in the world after India. Why does this incident keep reoccurring?
Perhaps, that is why after every two years, the Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP), in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health bring together health experts, traditional and religious leaders, from across the country and beyond, to deliberate on the clog of maternal mortality rate in Nigeria as well as the way forward.
National Family Planning Conference (NFPC), which is in its 4th edition, was a 3-day eventful programme themed:‘Family Planning in Nigeria: The Journey So far’.
Experts at the conference revealed that based on the recent Demographic and Heath Survey, Nigeria has not recorded significant improvement in its Family Planning uptake over the years, “that is why Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) has remained stagnant for the past 10 years.
This so appalling revelation was further confounded during the pre-conference briefings by the Chairman of the LOC, Dr. Ejike Orji, who is also the chairman of the Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP).
He said there is wide regional variation in the use of contraception across the geopolitical zones of Nigeria. “Whereas 25% of married women aged 15 – 49 years in the Southwest currently use modern contraceptive, less than 3% of women in the Northeast are current users of modern family planning method.”
These indices show that while some Nigerians choose or reject contraception based on their life style, some also choose or reject based on their religious perspectives. At the conference, traditional rulers as well as religious leaders unanimously shoved off the rumours that Family Planning has side effects, or that is harmful to women and their families, or is against any religious believes.
Having identified all the divergent factors militating against the full implementation of modern contraceptives in the country, at the end of the eventful deliberations, experts proffered a tripartite solution as follows: A shift in attitude must be encouraged through a dogged public; awareness campaign in most communities, places of worships; clubs/associations and institutions of learning because, historically myth and misconceptions around modern contraception have contributed to low demand for family planning in general.
Secondly, Family Planning programmes have not been given priority attention and efficiently funded by the government. It is therefore pertinent for the government to re-dedicate its attention to the programme via efficient funding and favourable policies that create the need for Family Planning, which improves service delivery and encouraging ease of access by reducing barriers to the use of Family Planning in the country.
Lastly, Donor agencies, civil societies and other private organizations must show support in whatever they could.
Speaking to one of the major donor agencies to the maternal health in the country, USAID, on how is it assisting Nigeria in creating more demand and adoption of modern contraception, the Director in the Health, Population and Nutrition office of the agency, Nancy Lowenthal, asserted that over $30 Million is devoted to reproductive health in Nigeria by the American government.
Lawenthal said reproductive health is her country’s largest Country Programme in the world. She however regretted that no donor can be out in front, only the Nigerians can be.
“Without strong voice from your government and strong commitment from other Nigerian people themselves by recognizing the value of reproductive health and driving the demand from the use of reproductive health, donor commitment doesn’t matter.
“So go out and get the commitment from the Nigerian people and donors will follow,” she appealed.
“However, it is impressive that the government is fully working with the civil society and other private sector actors in spreading the gospel of reproductive health and family planning as a way of both reducing maternal mortality and of helping Nigerians be lifted out of poverty.
“We believe that the government of Nigeria can achieve its family planning vision,” Lowenthal emphasized.
On her own part, the Country Representative of the Bill and Melinda Gate Foundation, Mairo Mandara, said Family Planning is key to National development, adding that the less family size we have the more developed we become.
Mandara however believed that people should have as many children as they desire, but they should have them responsibly, thinking of the health of the mother, the environment and the prevailing economic condition.
“Nobody is recommending any family size, but we encourage the parents to have the size they could fend for, especially by allowing these children to reach their educational potentials,” she concluded.
Without strong voice from your government and strong commitment from other Nigerian people themselves by recognizing the value of reproductive health and driving the demand from the use of reproductive health, donor commitment doesn’t matter.
