‘Over 60,000 women access family planning in Delta’

Delta State Reproductive Health Programme Manager, Ministry of Health, Dr. Weyinmi Francis, has said that more than 60,000 women of reproductive age access family planning (FP) yearly in the State.

Dr. Weyinmi Francis, who disclosed this at a critical meeting of stakeholders on reproductive health on Wednesday in Asaba, said the development was to promote family planning and avoid unwanted pregnancies.

She said the State has about 1.3 million women of reproductive age who need to access family planning, in addition to the initial average of 13,000 to 15,000 new acceptors annually.

She said, “Without quoting data, we have about 200,000 new women of reproductive age accessing FP yearly due to new demand generation and sensitisation. We want to increase this to 500,000 to 600,000 new women yearly.”

She noted that family planning has been proven to have the capacity to reduce maternal mortality by 30%, adding, “It is an intervention that is very strong when it comes to maternal mortality.

“In other areas, like adolescent youths, we are trying to develop adolescent health services and interventions, and that is why we are here.”

“We are not projecting family planning for adolescent youths; we project sex education. We know there is a lot of peer pressure in the state, so we try to empower them with information and knowledge. When they face peer pressure, they have the information to say no to illegal abortion, premarital sex, unprotected sex, and any activities that can negatively impact their health.”

According to her, Delta’s target is to empower women with knowledge about sexuality and reproductive health so that when they reach adulthood, they can make informed decisions.