The Federal Government has reiterated its commitment to ensuring the set target for 36 per cent Family Planning, FP, Contraceptive Prevalence Rate is achieved by the year 2018. This was revealed during the Family Planning (FP) Watch final dissemination which held in Abuja.
The Head and Director of Reproductive Health Division of the Federal Ministry of Health, Dr Kayode Afolabi stated that irrespective of the prevalent 16 percent, the target for 2018 of 36 percent is still attainable because Nigeria is part of the global movement on Family Planning – FP 2020.
Afolabi, while speaking on the FP 2020 goal target, said that the target was created to enable millions of girls and women have access to family planning information in order to help them make informed choices on the different contraceptive methods currently available.
The project (FP Watch) is duly funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and the Three Millennium Development Goal Fund. However, the FP Watch Project is a survey which is organised by the Federal Ministry of Health and Society for Family Health (SFH), supported by Population Services International (PSI).
“The survey takes a look at the access and availability of family planning services and commodities to families nationwide. It’s really a thing of joy to have been part of the survey because of its notable impact to impart policy and programming most especially in the area of access to family planning in the country in order to improve child health, improve maternal and newborn and child health ”
“We even hope to build recommendations and have strategies and set priorities areas for funding with the evidence given by the FP Watch.”
Also, the Managing Director of the Society for Family Health, Sir Bright Ekweremadu mentioned that the National Dissemination event was to know the contraceptive mark and the readiness of service providers in Nigeria in providing the recommendations pertaining to identifying opportunities, strategies and outlet survey evidence survey to approach vital findings.
Sir Ekweremadu stated that, “we really hope to develop recommendations and suggest strategies for funding based on the evidence provided by the FP WATCH OUTLET SURVEY”.
The Deputy Managing Director of Programmes for SFH, Dr. Jennifer Anyanti, also stated that FP Watch study visited 14,000 outlets across the country to know the availability of family planning commodities and the level of service to the Nigerian populace.
Anyanti mentioned that the survey did take a look at product availability in the sector including condoms, injectables, IUDs, and oral contraceptives.
