Some stakeholders in the health sector have called on the federal government to increase investments in conducting a national census and funding family planning to address the population crisis and high fertility rate in the country.
They made the call in Abuja during a symposium organised by the development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), in collaboration with the Population Association of Nigeria, to commemorate this year’s World Population Day.
Dr Stanley Ukpai, dRPC’s Director of Projects, while noting that Nigeria had not conducted a census since 2006, called on the government to invest on census and use current data for policy making and implementation.
He said if the current population was left unchecked, it would predispose the country to more challenges as human capital development was not where it should be.
He further said, “If the government can invest in family planning, we will begin to reap the demographic dividends as a result of that process. Studies have shown that family planning is a sure way to reap demographic dividends.”
Dr Ejike Oji, the Chairman of the Management Committee of the Association for the Advancement of Family Planning (AAFP) and FP CSO Focal Person for Nigeria Health Watch, said the country was experiencing a demographic or population crisis, adding that the country had a huge youthful burge as over 75 per cent of the population was under the age of 34.
He said if proper investments were not made in the youthful burge, both the trained youths and untrained ones emigrated out of the country, and that the country was also predisposed to insecurity, among others.
He further said this was the time to address the high fertility rate, which was one of the drivers of the youthful population, adding that family planning reduced maternal mortality by 30 per cent.
He added that, “Hence, we must invest in family planning and reduce our fertility rate. We also need to invest in the health sector so that women don’t continue to die during childbirth.”
The Senior Special Adviser (SSA) to the President on Health, Dr Salma Anas Ibrahim, said the Renewed Hope health agenda of the government of Nigeria was committed to ensuring that the Reproductive, Maternal, Newborn, Child, Adolescent and Elderly Health plus Nutrition (RMNCAEH+N) and family planning was prioritised, ensuring that no woman or child was left behind.
She disclosed that the government paid the 2022 counterpart contribution for the supply of family planning commodities and that efforts were underway to pay the 2023 and 2024 contributions.
She said, “However, what we are committing to, going forward, is to institute a more sustainable mechanism for the timely release of government’s counterpart funding for family planning services. Part of this mechanism will also consider how states can be encouraged to invest in family planning commodities procurement, thereby engendering greater ownership at the sub-national level for greater sustainability.”
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