The unmet needs of family planning increased drastically during the peak of the COVID-19 lockdown in Nigeria. In Kaduna, experts said the lockdown created a room for shortages in the supply of commodities and a high rate of unintended pregnancy. They also discussed the paucity of funds, which resulted in poor management of family planning in Kaduna.
In May, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) projected that the world might witness millions of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions this year. According to a report conducted in collaboration with Reproductive health research, unsafe abortions may be rampant in developing countries during the quarantine period due to the COVID-19 crisis.
Reeling out data at Webinar conducted by Partnership for Advocacy in Child & Family Health (PACFaH ) on Thursday, July 29, Hajiya Nafisat Isa, the Coordinator of Family Planning in Kaduna said COVID-19 affected the consumption of family planning consumption in the state.
According to Ms. Isa, data from the Kaduna state government showed that consumption of family planning commodities increased to 180,000 in January 2020. The peak recorded in January was due to the improved family planning campaign in the state. It dropped to 60,000 consumption by February. In March and April, consumption dropped to 40,000, at the peak of Coronavirus pandemic, and after Nigeria recorded its first index case late February.
By May, it started raising about 47,000 consumption. In June, consumption rose to 60,000 after much effort from state government and partners through the supply of services alongside COVID-19 PPE. The unmet needs of family planning have increased during the lockdown.
| Months (2020) | Consumption of FP (Kaduna) |
| January | 180,000 |
| February | 60,000 |
| March | 40,000 |
| April | 40,000 |
| May | 47,000 |
| June | 60,000 |
Consumption of FP in Kaduna in the first 6month of 2020 (Kaduna Govt/Dataphyte)
The webinar titled, “The FP in Kaduna: Emerging Issues In the Face of Redistribution of the 2020 Health Budget For COVID-19” was in collaboration with development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC).
Ms. Isa said the consumption was only impacted negatively during the peak of COVID-19 in March and April. She said the government swiftly addressed the shortages by raising emergency and distributes commodities around May.
“Doing that period, It was only between March, April, and part of May. Lockdown contributed to this. After this period, we were able to distribute the remaining commodities.
“In May, we received our supply from the Federal Government. We also raised an emergency order, and it arrived in July. We are able to distribute commodities widely. At the same level, we are also making sure to ensure commodities available instead of solely relying on the National Government.”
According to the Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (2018 NDHS), Kaduna has the lowest figure in the rate of unmet need for family planning in Nigeria. Abia state has the highest with 29, FCT followed closely with 19, whereas both Lagos and Kano have 17 each.
The State of Family Planning Funding in Kaduna
Dr. Iliyasu Neyu, Director, Public Health at the Kaduna State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (KDSPHCDA), explained that COVID-19 pandemic affects budget to family planning and others. Dr. Meyu said there were challenges of poor resources and others issued, which necessitated the rechanneling of resources.
“Family Planning in Kaduna State has gone through various stages in budgeting allocation. It has improved drastically. Presently, we have allocation from the state government. We have ₦12.25 million and ₦100 million situated at the Kaduna State Health Supply Agency.
The fund is for the Procurement of family planning commodities and consumables for use in Kaduna. This supplements what we get from the Federal Government and other partners and international organizations.
“In total, for the family planning budget, we have ₦112.25 million.”
Dr. Neyu said Kaduna state has the political support in terms of budget support for family planning.
How Goalkeepers are tracking Family Planning budget
Dr. Saied Tafida, Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation (BMGF) Goalkeeper 2019, Lead, Follow Taxes, said tracking budget, especially line budget that relates to service delivery has always been the most difficult to do.
“From the onset from the setting and from getting the results on, it involves a series of activities that already been done and when there is a shortage of funds in the entirety of a state that does not have an end amount allocated to entities or agencies it causes a holistic challenge.
“Our focus has always not been because the hospitals and the management have been great to make sure that the facilities are in the hospital. But how do we get the people from the community to build up the agenda and benefit from it? So we focused more on getting to the crossroads, getting the knowledge of the existing facilities,
“And this we do in partnership with our other civil society organizations, community-based organizations in the grassroots, and all the entities that work together.”
On the level of Implementation of family planning in Q1 and Q2, Dr. Saied Tafida, said there are no published data presently to act upon. But he said based on historical data, especially the 2019 budget, the implementation level was low and budget barely enough.
Explaining the downward trend in the budgets to the family planning in Kaduna state, Dr. Neyu said pandemic has affected a lot of things in general, including the allocation to States by the FG and internal IGR. He said the state is doing everything possible to ensure health sector allocation remains a priority.
Other guest speakers at the event include Iliya Kure, Secretary, Family Health Advocates in Nigeria Initiative (FHANI) and Hajiya Hafsat Baba Commissioner, Human Services and Project Director, GIWAC-PAS Kaduna.