Health sector experts have advocated increased funding for reproductive health to guarantee access to reproductive health services and a reduction in high maternal deaths in the country.
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They spoke at the Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights (SRHR) Summit 1.0 organised by the Media Health and Rights Initiative of Nigeria to mark the 2024 World Contraception Day in Abuja.

About 610,000 unsafe abortions are carried out yearly in Nigeria while about 285, 000 women and girls experience complications from unsafe abortions with about 20,000 people dying from complications arising from unsafe abortions every year in the country.

Experts, who spoke at the event themed: ‘A Choice for All: Freedom to Plan, Power to Choose’, decried the high rate of maternal mortality and stressed the need to provide access to safe reproductive health services to all women irrespective of their demographics including those living with disabilities.

The Country Director, IPAS Nigeria Health Foundation, Dr Lucky Palmer, called for universal access to modern contraceptives and comprehensive reproductive health services in the country.

He noted that unplanned pregnancies are a big challenge in the country, adding that Nigeria contributes about 28 per cent of the world’s maternal deaths and most of these deaths are preventable.
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Palmer insisted that contraception should be available for all including adolescents, married women, and young single men, and stressed that contraception is not only for married people as it is the right of every Nigerian to have access to contraception.

He said: “We shouldn’t be having unplanned pregnancies in our country if contraceptives are free and available for everybody, perhaps, we will not be having over 1,500 maternal data in Nigeria. The Nigerian population is probably less than 25 per cent of the world but we contribute about 28 per cent of the world’s maternal mortality every year.”

Palmer emphasised the need to remove cultural and systemic barriers hindering access to contraception, especially for vulnerable groups such as adolescents and women with disabilities.

“In Nigeria, we often assume adolescents shouldn’t have sex, so they don’t need contraception. However, contraception should be free and available to all, regardless of age, disability, or marital status,” he added.

Also speaking, the President, Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria, Prof Rosemary Ogu, urged the government to allocate more funding for reproductive health and make contraceptives and pregnancy carefree in the country.

She noted that rural communities face difficulties in accessing family planning commodities, resulting in high maternal mortality. Ogu observed that contraception is one of the strategic tools being deployed to prevent women from dying, adding that primary healthcare centres need to be functional and effectively utilised.

On his part, Board Chair, Media Health Right (MHR), Dr Ufuoma Omo-Obi, highlighted the crucial need for accessible healthcare for Nigerian youths, particularly pregnant women, to reduce the high burden of maternal mortality in the country.
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He said, “It is imperative to join forces together to fight maternal mortality rates in Nigeria by making contraception available for all women. Nigerian women should not be afraid to have a conversation on safe contraception and be able to tackle these challenges. Most times people don’t know how they can relate to these issues.

“Every woman should have the right to choose, the Federal Government has a restrictive abortion law with only five states adopting the framework. With more states adopting the framework, this would reverse the maternal mortality issues in Nigeria.”

He stressed the need to tackle the challenges of zero access to contraceptives by some populations, adding that more efforts should be made to ensure that women and girls have access to safe social services irrespective of their locations, and race or tribe.

Omo-Obi emphasised that collaboration across sectors is key to ensuring all women have access to contraception, empowering them to take control of their reproductive health and openly discuss challenges related to family planning.

On his part, Dr Ejike Orji, stated that Nigeria still has the highest number of maternal mortalities in the world. He said before now, donors have been supporting family planning with funds and emphasised the need to make family planning a legislative agenda.
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