Family Planning: Contraceptives Demands Rises in Jigawa
By: Ahmed Aminu, Dutse
Jigawa State Family Planning Media Forum has called on development partners to strengthen the supply of family planning commodities as contraceptives demands rises in the state.
The forum made the call in a communique issued at end of its 2024 review meeting, held with the support of TCI and Devcom in Dutse.
The meeting was attended by representatives of TCI, Devcom, Ministry of Health and members of the media forum on family planning and reproductive health in the state.
The meeting reviewed the engagements between the media working group, partners, state government, community and other related activities conducted in 2024.
They observed that following series of advocacy and public enlightenment, family planning practice has been widely accepted by both rural and urban women of reproductive age in the state.
“Now there is growing demand of the services and commodities at health facilities in the state, which are often out of stock,” the group noted in the communique.
They also canvassed for adequate budgetary allocation and prompt release of funds for the supply of the family planning commodities to health facilities in the state.
The media professionals identified gaps with regards to public enlightenment on family planning which was below average, and had inhibited the state media working group to sustain the campaign in the absence of partners.
They therefore appealed to the partners to do more in supporting government to strengthen the supply chain for family planning services and commodities.
The forum also canvassed for more funding to sustain public campaigns on the importance of Family Planning, and reproductive health, as well as regular training on sustainability techniques and communication mechanisms for members of the media working group.
The Syndicate reports that TCI and DevCom are international partners supporting governments to strengthen service delivery on family planning and reproductive health around the world, and are currently providing such support to Jigawa state government.
The media engagement with TCI and Devcom started in early 2024 with series including workshops, advocacy to state actors, field visits and public enlightenment campaigns, which have so far made significant impacts in improving the acceptability of family planning and reproductive health in Jigawa state.
The key priority areas in the engagement are child spacing, family planning, antenatal and facility delivery, and routine immunisation.
