Kwara to address barriers to family planning uptake

The Kwara State Government has begun efforts to address barriers to the uptake of family planning services across the state, with misconceptions, fear of side effects, commodity shortages and poor access to healthcare facilities identified as some of the challenges.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Amina El-Imam, disclosed this at a Stakeholders’ Strategic Coordination and Review Meeting on Family Planning in Ilorin.

According to a statement issued on Saturday by the Press Secretary of the ministry, Saad Hamdalat, the meeting brought together stakeholders to review progress in family planning interventions, identify gaps and agree on strategies to improve access to quality, affordable and rights-based services across the state.

El-Imam said the government’s efforts to strengthen family planning would contribute to improving maternal and child health, while noting its implications for women’s empowerment and poverty reduction.

“Family planning is not merely a health intervention but a critical component of universal health coverage, maternal and child health, women’s empowerment, poverty reduction and sustainable development,” she said.

The commissioner said the state government was also addressing the challenge of commodity availability, disclosing that Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq had approved funds for the United Nations Population Fund 1:1 basket fund for the procurement of family planning commodities.

She said the funding would improve the availability of commodities at health facilities and help ensure access to family planning services.

“Effective family planning programming requires more than commodities. Informed communities, competent healthcare providers, reliable data, strong referral systems, effective demand generation, youth-friendly services and sustained collaboration among government and partners are equally essential,” El-Imam said.

The commissioner identified myths and misconceptions about family planning, fear of side effects, concerns about privacy and confidentiality, sociocultural influences and limited male involvement as factors affecting service utilisation.

She also listed commodity stock-outs, inadequate funding and geographical barriers among the challenges limiting access to family planning services in the state.

“We must deliberately target adolescents and young people, women in hard-to-reach communities, persons with disabilities and other vulnerable populations,” El-Imam said.

She called for stronger engagement with traditional and religious leaders to address misconceptions and improve acceptance of family planning services within communities.

The Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Taoheed Abdullahi, said the meeting was aimed at strengthening family planning integration, government ownership and accountability.

“The state needs the active participation of all stakeholders to improve implementation and reduce the unmet need for family planning,” Abdullahi said.

He urged stakeholders to share experiences, innovations and evidence to improve the implementation of family planning programmes across the state.

Earlier, the State Family Planning Coordinator, Bashirat Jatto, said the meeting would provide an opportunity to present the results of the Transition Readiness Assessment to state and local government stakeholders.

Jatto said the assessment would help stakeholders identify gaps and opportunities for aligning family planning interventions with SWAp and MAMII governance, financing, demand generation, service delivery, commodity security and data-use mechanisms.

She added that the meeting would facilitate peer learning between higher- and lower-performing local government areas and support the development of state- and LGA-specific action plans to address identified gaps.

Also speaking, the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child and Adolescent Health plus Nutrition Communication Lead of the Society for Family Health, Nigeria, Michael Titus, emphasised the importance of child spacing in reducing maternal and newborn health risks.

“Child spacing is critical to reducing the risks associated with pregnancy and childbirth, particularly among women in underserved communities,” Titus said.

He said SFH was collaborating with the Kwara State Government to provide interventions aimed at expanding access to family planning services in underserved communities.

Titus added that the partnership would extend child-spacing services to more women in the hinterlands and contribute to reducing deaths associated with pregnancy and childbirth complications.