Nigeria to launch new Family Planning Campaign

The Nigeria Government is set to ensure that about 7.3 million women have access to family planning, to achieve its goals of decreasing maternal and infant morbidity and mortality rate.

The Director, Family Health Planning, Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH), Dr Abebimpe Adebiyi says the ministry plans to do this with the use of a new National Family Planning Communication Campaign.

At a news conference in Abuja, Dr Adebiyi said the campaign would close the contraceptive gap in the country.

Significant gaps
He noted that the fear of side effect, norms and belief, misconception among others were the major factors affecting the use of contraceptives in Nigeria.

She also said that most Nigerians did not have the basic knowledge about the importance of family planning.

“Years after the first National Family Planning Campaign was launched, Nigeria has remained stagnated.

”The significant gaps still persist between knowledge and contraceptive use thereby creating marginal shifts in unmet needs for family planning in the country,”  she explained.

Dr Adebiyi also said that the new campaign with “The Green dot”would serve as the official marker for public and private locations where people can obtain safe, affordable and effective family planning services.

Awareness through education
The Director, Media and Public Relations, FMoH, Mrs Boade Akinola, urged the media to address misconception about family planning by educating people on its effects and to promote empathy as well as understanding among men.

Mrs Akinola also called on the media to create awareness on other likely effects of lack of family planning such as the socio-economic and health issues, to push family planning issues to the mainstream agenda.

“The media most often targets reproductive health programming at women or speak about family planning and other health issues at programmes that target women.

”However, evidence shows that the decision on whether or not to adopt family planning is made by the husbands,” she said.

Mrs Akinola stated that men needed to be educated on how to assist their spouses.

According to her, promoting family planning is beyond profit making and it places a duty on any organisation or individual to act in the best interests of the environment in which it operates.

The new campaign has a new logo,“a green dot.” it is simple, easy to describe, easy to remember and not Illustrative.

NAN.