FAMILY planning is fast changing and more couples and youths are embracing the method for reproductive health and control of the size of their families.
Programme coordinator of CEPDA, Mrs, Tabitha Dashe, who said her organisation has been involved in propagating the use of family planning methods by youths and couples in Northern Nigeria since 2001, said it has noted that the rate of awareness and acceptability is quite high unlike before.
She explained this at an exchange meeting for the training of mothers on reproductive health by the center in Jos, saying that CEDPA, through its programme christened “kyatatau hali“ has succeeded in increasing access to family planning in northern Nigeria.
The programme officer noted that in the three states of Kano, Bauchi and Plateau where the organisation started the programme, the availability of family planning services has also improved, while it is still working on establishing provider community-based networks and linkages.
She observed that male participation in the process has also picked up, unlike before as more men in the core northern states are now not only aware of family planning methods but have come to accept it for their families while encouraging others to do the same.
She said state ministries of health have remained relevant partners in spreading the gospel of family planning and urged them not to relent in the roles they are playing so as to help achieve the Millennium Development Goals.
Plateau State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Baranbas Mandong, who spoke at the occasion, said maternal mortality is unacceptable at this stage of Nigeria’s development.
He said for Nigeria to develop socially and economically, problems such as maternal mortality must be tackled to enhance the quality of life of the people, adding that though family planning is one of the ways of reducing maternal mortality, there are other areas which must be explored to reduce the high cases of death during child delivery in Nigeria.
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‘Family Planning Gains Acceptability In Northern Nigeria’