The UN seems to recognise the Nigerian government’s proactiveness against COVID-19, but what can we say about her healthcare, particularly family planning (FP).
- Nigeria prevented over 2.3 million pregnancies in 2019, but 3.5 million pregnancies were unintended;
- In 2019, the Federal Government (FG) released only 25% of the committed family planning budget;
- In May, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) projected that the world might witness millions of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions this year;
- Till date, FG has only achieved 16.6% of its 27% modern contraceptive commitment;
- CSO, Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health @ Scale (PAS) beckons on the government to support family health in the country.
Around the globe, people marked September 26th as World Contraception Day (WCD), a significant milestone for low to middle-income countries. And while Nigeria prevented over 2.3 million pregnancies in 2019, 3.5 million pregnancies were unintended. So, a long way to go… most definitely.
Funding to the healthcare sector
At the heart of Nigeria’s healthcare challenge, lies inadequate funding. But perhaps what compounds this challenge is the FG’s delay and incomplete release of healthcare allocation.
In 2019, the Federal Government released only 25% of the committed family planning budget. This January, FG budgeted ₦1.2 billion for FP. The revised budget of August 2020 also preserved this figure; yet, FG has released no funds to date.
This situation is the same in some states. The Kano state government set aside ₦100,000,000 for FP in the January 2020 budget. Months later, by July, it was reduced to ₦20,000,000. And even then, they have failed to disburse a single naira.
Mismanagement of funds
Concerning Nigeria’s acclaimed proactiveness towards COVID-19, some of its dealings were reportedly shrouded in opaqueness. COVID-19 Basket funds, in particular, made for several discrepancies in government expenditure. In one instance, the Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) spent ₦5600 on units of hand sanitizer from a ₦5.6 million procurement deal. Worse, though, was the vagueness of these COVID-related purchases, DATAPHYTE highlighted.
Projected birth rate surge
In May, the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) projected that the world might witness millions of unintended pregnancies and unsafe abortions this year. And per a report conducted in collaboration with Reproductive health research, unsafe abortions may be rampant in developing countries during the quarantine period because of the COVID-19 crisis.
As a result, sister nations and their institutions mobilised around WCD to raise awareness. In Ghana, the Ministry of Health and NGOs in collaboration with UNFPA mobilized around WCD to call for increasing access to accurate information on Family Planning (FP) commodities. Likewise, in Kenya, the Sexual and Reproductive Health Alliance (SRHA) in collaboration with the Ministry of Health raised awareness on the benefits of modern family methods.
Nigeria, lagging…
It is against this backdrop that civic organisation, Partnership for Advocacy in Child and Family Health @ Scale (PAS) beckoned on the government to support family health in the country.
Recall that in July, Hajiya Nafisat Isa, Coordinator of Family Planning for PAS in Kaduna noted how COVID-19 affected family planning in the state.
Meanwhile, till date, FG has only achieved 16.6% of its 27% modern contraceptive commitment. And a key reason for this failure remains financing for FP. Year after year, the Federal and State governments allocate funds in annual budgets for contraceptive procurement, logistics, training, etc. Despite this, FG does not release allocated funds; releases them late, or not in alignment with Costed Implementation Plans.
… But
Again, using the instance of Kaduna… While the pandemic hindered FP services, after much effort from the state government and partners, the situation appreciated. It was not stellar, but it was better. In the same vein, the FG must prioritise family planning in the country, and not with words but actions.
First steps would be to release the 2020 budgetary allocation for family planning. Following, the government could apply the same results-based management approaches used in the COVID-19 fight to family planning programming in Nigeria.
PAS notes that access to modern contraceptives gives families a chance to practice healthy timing between births. Further, it reduces the prevalence of maternal mortality, contributing to the survival of living children and the health of the nation.