There has been a rise in the number of women adopting family planning methods in Osun state, as stated by Ololade Abatan, who works as the Family Planning Coordinator for the Osun Ministry of Health. Abatan explained that the current economic conditions in the country have led more women in the state to seek out family planning services, even without extensive efforts from the ministry to promote them. This information was shared during a 3-day media advocacy training for family planning in Osogbo.
Report has it that the training was put together by the Development Communication Network, a non-profit organization specializing in media development, to assist The Challenge Initiative (TCI), a non-profit organization. Abatan believes that women are more willing to seek family planning services nowadays compared to the past. She emphasized the importance of men supporting their partners in this decision and assured that family planning does not encourage promiscuity in women. Men often believe that women become promiscuous once they start using family planning. However, this misconception is being actively addressed by educating men otherwise.
Journalists are trained to effectively cover family planning stories.
Instead, this endeavour is targeted at encouraging peaceful and collaborative relationships between spouses. She said family planning involves efficiently managing birth rate affairs, urging husbands to stand by their wives in this endeavour. Mayowa Adeniran, a trainer specializing in media engagement for development communication, highlighted that the goal of the training was to enhance the skills of journalists in effectively covering stories regarding family planning issues in the state. Adeniran stated that the training aimed to empower journalists to become strong proponents and supporters of family planning initiatives.
For the past three years, TCI has been actively engaged in a project in Osun which has highlighted the necessity for media advocacy. This initiative aims to boost awareness and improve the effectiveness of reporting on family planning issues in Osun. During his presentation, Olatunde Raimi, the Technical Support Lead for Research, Monitoring, and Evaluation at TCI, mentioned that the state showed interest in the organization endeavour in November 2021. Raimi also highlighted that TCI has aided 40 facilities across 10 local government areas in the state with advocacy efforts for family planning ever since.
Significance of family planning cannot be overemphasized.
Generally, the Nigerian government understands the importance of providing easy access to family planning services. Various creative methods, such as distributing contraceptives within communities, utilizing mobile clinics, and offering more long term contraceptive methods, have been put into place to increase the reach of family planning services. Nigeria’s goal for 2030 is to create a society where individuals of all ages, backgrounds, and circumstances have the resources and opportunities to make well-informed decisions, obtain affordable and high-quality family planning services, and actively contribute to the country’s progress as valued members of society.
Previously, it was observed that cultural beliefs hindered the acceptance of campaign awareness on family planning. But now, the Nigerian government implemented various policies and initiatives to promote the concept of modern family planning, considering that it’s significance cannot be overemphasized. As a result, there have been significant impacts, including the prevention of 2,110,000 unwanted pregnancies, averting 756,000 unsafe pregnancies, and preventing 14,000 maternal deaths. The Nigerian government is committed to ensuring that family planning is a fundamental component of the country’s economic and social development strategies.
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The government is also focused on increasing the percentage of family planning access and choice by 2030 by implementing effective practices that cater to the needs of individuals and families. This will be achieved through a comprehensive market approach that prioritizes rights-based services. Also, there is focus on improving the national family planning supply chain in order to decrease stock-out rates to less than 20%, enhance end-to-end data transparency, and build up the nationwide ability to ensure the last-mile delivery of family planning resources by 2030.