NAN-H-86
Family
By Vivian Ihechu
Lagos, Feb. 13, 2017 (NAN) The Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI) 2, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded project, on Monday inaugurated a family planning unit at the Ibafon Primary Health Centre in Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA, Lagos State.
NURHI 2 put the family planning unit put in place under a “72-hour Family Planning Clinic Make-Over’’ project from 50 selected primary health centres (PHC) and hospitals in Lagos.
Dr Omosanjuwa Edun, NURHI-2 Lagos team leader, speaking during the inauguration of the clinic said the organisation promoted the use of family planning in the LGAs and communities where they were working .
“For us to promote the use of family planning services, we have to upgrade these facilities to the basic standards that they should be.
“In so doing, the providers will be able to deliver optimal quality of services to clients and patients.
“Ibafon PHC is one of the 50 PHCs that we are working on in Lagos; in a family planning unit, the ideal setting is that you have a counseling and procedure unit.
“This is to ensure privacy in delivery of services because we understand the sensitivity of family planning; we have been able to put that in place here.’’
Edun said, “Also, when we get to a facility, we look at the amenities that surround maternal and newborn services at the PHC.
“We noticed that the state of Ibafon PHC labour room was not conducive, so we worked on it to make it better; we laid new floor tiles and re-painted the waiting room.
“All these were done within 72 hours; it is a strategy not to disrupt the normal clinic activities in a facility; so, work starts on Friday evening and is completed on Sunday, for inauguration on Monday morning.
“In all of these, local artisans in the community were used to execute the project.
“The World Health Committees in the communities, as well as community members supervised the works to ensure that they were done to specification,’’ Edun said.
According to him, the initiative is necessary to make government at all levels understand that these things can be done without unnecessary bureaucracy but with due processes.
He thanked the sole administrator of the LGA for the cooperation and approval.
In her response, Mrs Fehintola Damole –Akaba, the Sole Administrator of Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA, Lagos, said, “Family Planning has been proven to be an effective intervention in reducing maternal mortality.
“This is because it helps to avoid the challenges that women face in pregnancy and child birth, especially, when they are too young or too old and when pregnancies are too close or too many.
“We will ensure that the place is well maintained; we will also ensure that our people are sensitised and mobilised to access the services here,’’ Damole-Akaba said.
Also, Dr Naheem Oteniya, the Medical Officer of Health, Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA, said,“family planning is an essential and integral part of reproductive health.
“It helps to promote the health of the mother; we know that if the health of the mother is promoted, it will impact on the children and nation.
“We thank NURHI for supporting this initiative because if the state or LGA were to embark on this, it will run into millions of naira,’’ he said.
Speaking on behalf of the community, Chief Kayode Okunlola, the Baale of Ibafon Town, said there was the need to intensify awareness on the benefits of family planning.
According to him, a state data shows that the LGA has the highest incidence of maternal mortality and there is the need to educate people on child spacing.
The community leader said that the community would be committed to ensuring that the unit was sustained and people were encouraged to use the family planning services.(NAN)
VIV/PAD
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Edited by Peter Dada