Group tasks state govts on provision of family planning commodities in PHCs

The Challenged Initiative (TCI), a Non Governmental Organization in Nigeria has urged state governments in the country to make available consumables and commodities of family planning in the Primary Health Centres, PHCs.

It noted that availability of such items would help to stem the tide of maternal mortality by 30 percent, as well as unwanted pregnancy among women of reproductive age.

TCI Director, Nigeria Hub, Dr Taiwo Johnson, who made the appeal in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital during a facility tour to PHCs in the area, said the call was necessary following the rising demand for family planning services and the imminent end to TCI programme in the states it operates.

She expressed fear that if states fail to sustain the family planning free services initiated by donor partners in the areas of provision of consumables/commodities, community mobilization, project monitoring among others, they may go back to status quo.

The TCI Director said the Federal government only provides 13% of the commodities needed for family planning, stressing that “it behoves on states to develop a plan of procuring these commodities and look for domestic funding to sustain it.”

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She, however, announced that TCI would end its programme next year and commended the health workers for optimum dedication to duty in the midst of little or no support.

Her words: “TCI wants to know the high impact practices and high impact interventions that have been sustained in these facilities.

“We appreciate the fact that the Akwa Ibom government provided the enabling government, but we are saying that every state should procure their commodities and consumables. Government should release funds to implement this.

“Every woman deserves family planning and family planning is a low hanging fruit for maternal mortality. It allows women having children by choice and not by chance, we want when a woman walks into a facility, she gets these services there without any charge.

“Federal government can only provide 13 percent of the commodities needed for family planning, so what this means is that every state has to develop its plan to procure family planning commodities and find domestic funding to drive it.”

In their separate remarks, the officers in charge of Primary Health Centres, Ewet Offot and Ikot Ebido all in Uyo, Mrs Rose Okon and Mrs Enobong Umoren, respectively, noted that many women were embracing family planning unlike before.

They regretted the inadequate supply of family planning commodities and consumables and commended TCI for providing the ones used so far.