Family Planning: Stakeholders Calls For Timely Release Of Budget

Stakeholders in Family Planning (FP) advocacy have called on the Lagos State government to urgently release 2018 funds allocated to FP.

Addressing journalists in Lagos during a recent media round table organised by Development Communications Network (DEVCOMS), in collaboration with Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiatives (NURHI), the stakeholders noted that Nigeria’s huge population is fuelled by high birth rate without good family planning.

Speaking on Family Planning Budget Allocation and Timely Release, Barrister Ayo Adebusoye, Chairman, Public Health Sustainable Advocacy Initiative (PHSAI) who was the guest speaker, first commended the state government for the leap in the Ministry of Health’s budget for family planning in 2018 compared to 2017.

Adebusoye therefore called for the timely release of the budget allocation, stressing that, it is one thing to create a budget and another to timely release for implementation.

According to him, “let the budget that has been allocated be released on time so that we don’t have a situation like last year where we have N50 million for Primary Healthcare consumables and zero kobo was released,” noting that Nigeria is having a time lag to meeting up with 2020 family planning target.

“I think early this second quarter of the year, the state government should really be able to make sure that all they listed for family planning be executed in time.

“Memo should be made and all bottle necks should actually be removed because this is one area we have seen its so vital in ensuring that there is drastic reduction in maternal mortality rate which we are one of the highest in the world.

“As much as possible, budget should be online so that it is available to everyone and accessible to everyone. We are also reiterating that now, as much as possible they should make Lagos State budget online.”

NURHI Lagos State Team Leader, Dr Edun Omasanjuwa, while calling on the state government to release the fund allocated to family planning, noted that Nigeria’s population has continued to increase rapidly with no commensurate development in health care service delivery.

He pointed that the huge population is fuelled by high birth rate without good family planning and that can be a huge burden with resultant poor health indices such as high maternal and infant deaths and perpetual poverty.

Explaining the implication of the Nigerian’s growing population, Dr. Omasanjuwa said: “The rate we are growing, no matter how much roads we begin to build we will still perpetually have traffics gridlocks in Lagos State if we don’t manage our population.

“It means our schools will never be able to accommodate our students. It means we will never have enough teachers to teach our student. Our health care system will never be able to accommodate our population that’s just as simple as it is.

“But if we are ready to slow down the population growth, it means more people will get to benefit the dividends of democracy.”

Also speaking, DEVCOMS Programme Director, Mr. Akin Jimoh, charged journalists on their role in maternal health and family planning even as he urged the media practitioners to avail themselves the opportunities that abound online to be able to be better journalists.