The Country Director, Pathfinder International, Dr. Farouk
Jega, has said that despite Nigeria’s investment in Contraceptive Prevalence
Rate (CPR) for modern methods it's still a lowly 10 per cent, reports NaijaAgroNet.
In his address to Nigerians on this year’s World’s
Contraception Day (WCD), he noted that its happening against the backdrop of the
latest edition of Goalkeepers, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation annual
publication meant to track progress towards achieving the United Nations’
Sustainable Development Goals.
He quoted the publication as drawing attention to the stark
reality that unless something is done urgently, Nigeria and the Democratic
Republic of Congo will be house to 40 per cent of the world’s poorest people by
2050.
“Despite the significant investments made in the last decade
or so, Nigeria’s contraceptive prevalence rate for modern methods is still a
lowly 10 per cent,” he declared.
As said by him with a population nearing 200 million, about
a quarter of who are young people, Nigeria has a good opportunity of harnessing
the so-called demographic dividend by turning the ‘youth bulge’ into a
productive segment contributing meaningfully to economic growth and
development.
But this demographic dividend can only be achieved if the
necessary investments are made in the young population - investments in their
education, skills development and health care, including access to full and
voluntary family planning.
The National Youth Policy is long overdue for revision to
address the reproductive health needs of adolescents and young people in the
country.
Empowering our youthful population is an urgent necessity;
failure to make the necessary investments in this restless segment of the
population portends serious consequences, some of which may have already
started manifesting in increased levels of insecurity and violent crimes across
the country.
Improving access to and quality of family planning services,
he said, has long been recognized as one of the most cost-effective
interventions to address both maternal and child mortality.
Nigeria recently committed to significantly increase funding
for contraceptive commodities at the London FP2020 Summit. Despite this
commitment, funding gaps still exist as most states in the country have yet to
prioritize family planning, and few have made budgetary provisions for this
important service. Stock outs of key commodities are beginning to resurface in
many health centers, further compounding an unmet need of women for
contraceptive services, which is currently at 21 per cent.
Chuks Egbune/ED, Ops
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