NGO boosts family planning with mobile phones services

A Non-governmental organisation (NGO), Marie Stopes International, has procured at least 70 specialised mobile phones for family planning service providers in Edo State to promote data reporting.

The Regional Manager (South-South), Marie Stopes International, Mr. Toochi Eustach Ohaji, who made the disclosure Tuesday in Benin City, explained the aim of the project to include raising awareness on contraceptive and the use of contraceptive in Edo State to ensure the dissemination of the Family Health Plus project that was implemented in Edo and across the 36 states of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.

He disclosed that the project funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), is in collaboration with Marie Stopes International, Palladium Group and Marie Stopes International (Nigeria), adding that the project is a health system-strengthening project that supports the state ministry of health in the country, including Edo state. According to him, one of the key successes of the project is that the Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR), of the state has moved to a higher level. “One of the other things that the training have achieved is the training on mobile District Health Information System (DHIS) with Android phones deployed to about 77 service providers.

“This is to help do data reporting. It is also synchronised with the National DHIS, which means that whatever service that is provided by these our service providers, it is reported with these Android phones,” Ohaji said. He added that the phones are also capable of reporting other health interest, like immunization, river blindness; roll back malaria, school health services, and Human Immuno-deficiency Virus (HIV). “It is a key achievement from this support from the USAID and we are happy that this project even surpassed the set objective in the state, we are happy that this event is a success.” In her presentation, the state coordinator of Family Health Plus, Mrs. Umeh Ngozi Ndukwe, noted that awareness on family planning is remain very poor in the country and not easily accessible to many.