No fewer than three hundred and sixty-six thousand, four hundred and thirty-nine( 366, 439) persons used various family planning-FP methods in Niger State in 2021.
The State Family Planning Coordinator, Nurse Dorcas Talatu stated this in an interview in Minna.
She recalled that the first outbreak of COVID-19 in the country in February 2020, affected various spheres including the health sector negatively, explaining that the lockdown, occasioned by the pandemic in 2020, prevented clients from accessing FP commodities.
“Little did Nigerians know that the pandemic would affect almost all sectors of the economy. COVID-19 had a negative impact on the health sector with family planning -FP services greatly affected too, due to the lockdown, despite the increase in demand for FP commodities by couples” she stated.
However, Abu noted that in 2021 the situation improved greatly as available data from the State Primary Health Care Development Agency, PHCDA, showed a sharp increase in the number of females using modern contraception.
She revealed that in 2020, about 598, 444 women used modern contraception, while in 2021, the state recorded 189,444 new acceptors of FP as against 176,995 in 2020.
” There is an appreciable increase in the level of FP awareness. At some point, FP commodities were out of stock but it wasn’t for a long time and support from government and other stakeholders has been massive”.
She revealed that some of the common family planning methods used by women and men in 2021 include the injectables, IUDs, while the men went for the condoms.
The state FP Coordinator also noted the need for couples to embrace child spacing to maintain healthy families in the state, adding,
“If all women in developing countries with unmet needs for contraceptives were able to use modern methods, maternal deaths will be reduced by about a quarter”.
