Mr. Simon Lalong, Governor of Plateau State.
By Marie-Therese Nanlong
Jos – Stakeholders on family planning issues in Plateau State have appealed to all tiers of government to make funding of family planning activities a priority.
They lamented about the dwindling funding for family planning activities saying if this is not curbed, there will continue to be an increase in cases of unmet needs among clients who are interested in assessing family planning services.
Speaking in Jos on Tuesday at a media roundtable tagged: “Breaching the funding gap on family planning services in Plateau State”, organized by the Media for Family Planning with support from The Change Initiative, TCI, the stakeholders called for a change in attitude so that the diverse challenges facing the uptake of family planning service in Plateau State can be mitigated.
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The State Media Focal Person, Development Communication Network, Wika Gofwen, State Programme Coordinator, TCI, Philemon Yohanna, State Secretary, Voice for Family Planning, Hannatu Dung, State Family Planning Coordinator, Rahila Telfim and Chairperson, Media for Family Planning, Gwamkat Gwamzhi all appealed to government at all levels to consciously invest in family planning to activities and reap the benefit of an organized economy.
Telfim lamented the non-release of budgeted funds for family planning activities in the State disclosing that even when N23 million was budgeted in 2020, “only N2 million was released and the amount was used for distribution of family planning commodities from last quarter of last year to date.”
Yohanna specifically called for a change of mindset toward family planning or child birth spacing, as “the purpose of family planning or child birth spacing was to ensure a healthy family, not to control population.”
Dung added, “there must be a conscientious commitment of all parties, federal, state and local governments. Budget provisions should be backed up with timely cash releases, these will improve the uptake of family planning services and reduce out of pocket spending which can discourage especially low-income women.”
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They unanimously agreed that funding must not necessarily be reduced to naira and kobo but provision of commodities and consumables, training of care-givers, provision of means of transportation to convey commodities as well as general support for family planning activities can encourage service provision and reduce the burden of unplanned pregnancy and child birth.
