Chioma Umeha

By CHIOMA UMEHA In line with global calls, boosting family planning services for women who want to delay or prevent pregnancy would address preventable maternal and new-born deaths in the country. The World Health Organisation (WHO) reports that Nigeria’s maternal mortality rate (MMR) is 814 per 100,000 live births. Furthermore, the WHO report revealed that increased access and use of modern contraceptives by women of reproductive ages between 15 and 45 years would curb maternal mortality. The goal is to achieve a world where every pregnancy is wanted. Experts insist that maternal mortality would be avoidable if family planning is integrated in the country’s health system to control the country’s fertility and maternal mortality rate. A look at Nigeria’s population dynamics reveals that it is made up of a majorly young reproductive populace. Nigeria’s population is put at 215,105,356 as of Wednesday, April 6, 2022, based on Worldometer elaboration of the latest United Nations data.

The National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Wednesday organised a sensitisation programme on its guidelines for registration of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) regulated products at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) Hall, Ikeja, Lagos. Prof. Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye, Director-General, NAFDAC, said the aim of the programme was to sensitise the public and specifically the operators of the NAFDAC Regulated Products Micro, Small & Medium Enterprise (MSME) Industry. Prof. Adeyeye said that NAFDAC has a statutory responsibility to safeguard public health through the execution of its mandate which is to regulate and control the manufacture, importation, exportation, distribution, advertisement, sale and use of food, drugs, cosmetics, medical devices, bottled and packaged water, chemicals – generally referred to as regulated products. She said that on assumption of office on November 30, 2017, she resolved to consolidate the ga

A Non-Governmental advocacy working group, Family Health Initiative, Ogun (FAHIO) has sought the support and cooperation of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs), of government in the process of making consumables available in the public health facilities. This was revealed in a statement made available by the Media Officer of the group, Mrs. Waliyat Odemakin, after an advocacy visit by the group to the Ogun State Head of Service and some top government officials in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta. The Chairperson of FAHIO, Mrs. Kemi Balogun at the visit emphasized the need for increased contraceptive uptake and access to quality family planning services, adding that success on these would help the state achieve its targeted 52 percent Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) by year 2020 as well as reduction in Maternal Mortality and Morbidity rate to the barest minimal. According to Balogun, Improved Family Wellbeing and proactiveness of government agencies in the implementation of policies and

Advocacy Core Group, a Child Birth Spacing Advocacy Working Group, has commended Kebbi state M inistry of Health and Ministry of Budget and Planning for creating a budget line for Child Birth Spacing (CBS) programme in the state. The body with approval for advocacy on sustainable funding for CBS in the state which started in 2015, supported by Pathfinder International, has finally hit a milestone on actualization of its key demand – the creation of a dedicated budget line for CBS activities. According to its statement issued on Tuesday 24th September 2019 at a work plan development workshop, also supported by Pathfinder International, the move made by the state government will be a game changer towards improving the state’s Contraceptive Prevalence Rate which currently stands at 3.2% as shown by the Nigeria Demographic Health Survey (NDHS) 2018 report. “We would like to commend and appreciate the action of the government for taking a step towards increasing access to CBS services in th

S ome Civil Society Organisations(CSOs) and other stakeholders have warned that delay in the release of family planning funds is responsible for high-risk sexual behaviour and social malaise among young people. The groups which include the Pathfinder International, Media Advocacy Working Group, MAWG, and the Public Health Sustainable Advocacy Working Group, PHSAI, made the call recently, during a dialogue to mark the Word Contraception Day. In a presentation, the Chairman, PHSAI, Barrister Ayo Adebusoye, explained that prompt release of family planning funds by the state government would help in preventing high-risk sexual behaviour among young people. Similarly, Adebusoye said that efforts by the State to develop its annual budget in line with family planning Costed Implementation Plan (CIP) would tackle ugly social consequences of high-risk sexual behaviours among them. Adebusoye listi ng the consequences said, “Delay in acting fast is responsible for the increasing rate of teenage p

Some of the dignitaries at the Save The Children event W ith pneumonia being the second biggest killer of under-5 children worldwide, Save The Children International unveiled the report of its Integrated and Sustained Childhood Pneumonia and Infectious Disease Reduction in Nigeria (INSPIRING) project targeted to curb the menace. The launch of INSPIRING project, a situational analysis of the disease in Lagos and Jigawa states was to formally flag-off the scheme in the two states. Pneumonia reportedly killed 880,000 U-5 children globally in 2016 alone. Half of these were recorded in only five countries, one of which is Nigeria which also recorded about 19/1000 deaths of U-5 children in 2016. The INSPRING report estimates that    Jigawa state records about 14,988 cases of pneumonia, while Lagos state records about 17, 955 cases every year. Launching the report in Lagos, the State Child Survival Strategic Coordinator, Dr. Saida Ogaga, representing the Commissioner of Health, Prof. Akinola

T he Society for Family Health(SFH) has called on the Federal Government to boost adolescent girls’ access to health and critical social services as part of the efforts towards achieving major targets of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). A statement which was made available to DAILY INDEPENDENT weekend, SFH Deputy Project Director of Adolescents 360 (A360), Pharm. Fifi Ogbondeminu said adolescent access to health would promote social inclusiveness and help drive down maternal mortality such as unplanned pregnancies and unsafe abortion among adolescent girls and women. According to the statement, Ogbondeminu    who spoke at the National Conference on Inclusivity, Equality & Diversity in University Education hosted by the University of Lagos explained    that SFH started A360 in June 2017 to break down barriers to some critical social and health services for adolescent girls aged 15 – 19 years by creating safe spaces in public health facilities where they can achieve their dr