FG launches 5 policy documents to strengthen reproductive health

The Federal Ministry of Health, in collaboration with the Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria Foundation (PSN Foundation) and other partners, Saturday launched five policy documents on reproductive and maternal health.

They include Task Shifting/Task Sharing Policy (April 2022); Task Shifting/Task Sharing Standard Operating Procedures, (April 2022), Training Manual for Post Abortion Care (PAC) in Nigeria; On-the-Job Training Manual on Post Abortion Care (PAC) for Health Care Providers in Nigeria, and the Demand Generation (DG) Strategy on Self-Care for Sexual Reproductive and Maternal Health (SRMH) in Nigeria.

Speaking during the launch of the documents in Abuja, the Minister of Heath, Dr Osagie Ehanire, said they were to provide policy direction to stakeholders in the reproductive maternal, newborn, child and adolescent health and nutrition service delivery space.

He said that currently, Nigeria’s modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate is at 12 per cent, which is far below the Family Planning 2030 target of 27 per cent, adding that “more work needs to be done to achieve the set targets and ultimate goal towards ensuring that women are supported to make choices in their quest to meet their maternal and family planning needs.”

• Benue is burning: Where is the President?
• 9th anniversary of Chibok abduction: 96 girls still in captive

The Programme Director, PSN Foundation, Munir Elelu, said supporting community pharmacists and patent and proprietary medicine vendors, who are the first point of care in rural and semi-urban areas, with the policy documents via the Integrate programme, would ensure delivery of qualitative health care to citizenry, as well as improve efforts towards the achievement of Universal Health Coverage (UHC).

He said the launched documents would significantly increase access to health care, particularly in rural settings and in turn improve the health indices in Nigeria.

Miranda Buba, In-Country Lead, Self-Care Accelerator Project at John Snow Incorporated (JSI), said with the existing constraints on health systems, both at the national and state levels, the need for innovative health systems- strengthening solutions has become imperative.