Lagos – A Medical Expert, Dr Abib Salami, on Thursday decried the inability of many Nigerians to access family planning due to a number of factors.
Salami, who is also a Programme Manager in Reproductive Health at Pathfinder International, listed lack of funds, poor quality service and inaccessibility of the commodities as some of the factors.
He spoke at a media forum organised by the organisation in collaboration with the Lagos State Government.
Its theme is: “Family Planning as a Strategy to Reduce Maternal Mortality by 2018. “
“With this poor access to family planning, it puts our contraceptive prevalence rate at 15 per cent.
“Then, if we are talking in terms of the most effective method, we are talking about the modern method, the modern rate is 10 per cent; that’s very low.
“And, there is evidence that family planning is indirectly proportional to the level of maternal mortality.
“If you have an increased CPR (Contraceptive Prevalence Rate), the maternal mortality rate drops.
“We have about 545 per 100,000 live births, that is high.
“So, that is why we need to do as much as we can to ensure that people have access to family planning.
“Once they have access to family planning, then, we are sure that there can be reduction in maternal mortality.”
Also speaking, the Chairman, Lagos Advocacy Working Group, Mr Ayo Adebusoye, urged local government executive secretaries in the state to make family planning consumables free.
Adebusoye said that the gesture would remove the barriers hindering access to the commodities.
“If we want to increase the contraceptive prevalence rate, we need to begin to look at how we can remove all these barriers and obstacles.
“There has been a directive from the Lagos State Commissioner for Health, Dr Jide Idris, that there should be consumables or commodities free for family planning.
“It needs a collaborative effort by the government, media and non-governmental organisations to make this work,“ Adebusoye said. (NAN)