By Amos Tauna
Governor Nasiru Ahmed El-Rufai of Kaduna State has been reminded of the need to expedite action towards the realisation of free child spacing services to women in the state.
In its 2017 budget, the State Government has made a provision of N100m for the procurement of consumables and commodities to ensure free access to child spacing services to women of reproductive age, but till date no kobo has been approved under the budget line.
Speaking at the Annual Media Forum of Development Communication (DevComs) Network, Benjamen Maigari of Maternal and Child Health Civil Society (MCH-CS) Partnership, said the state stand to reduce its maternal deaths burden by more than 35% when child spacing is employed, urging the state to ensure timely release of the budgeted funds.
He said, the creation of the budget line was one of the best thing to happen in Kaduna State.
According to him, the importance of child spacing was the basis for the UN and other International partners to commit funds to provide commodities to women worldwide.
Also speaking, Mr. Iliya Kure, a Development Journalist, who is also Assistant Secretary of Family Health Advocates in Nigeria (FHANI), explained that approval was yet to be obtained for the release of parts of the N100m applied for by the State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (SPHCDA), to ensure free services for childbirth spacing in the state.
He said, if Governor El-Rufai approves the money and relevant Ministries including Finance, as well as Budget and Economic Planning release the amount applied for, it would catalyze the realization of totally free childbirth spacing to every nook and cranny in the state.
Executive Secretary of Kaduna State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Dr. Hadiza Balarebe had in an interview with newsmen said the agency had forwarded a proposal to the state government for the release of certain percentage of the N100m to provide the services free to women.
Early June, while granting interview to journalists in Zaria, at the development of operational plan for Costed Implementation Plan for Child spacing, Dr. Balarabe said, starting from July, Child Spacing Services will be totally free to women in Kaduna State.
She added, “We are the custodian of child spacing activities in the state, we have written a proposal so that we can get the funds to be able to provide the consumables.
“We also understand that for family planning to be truly free, as we want it to be, we need to increase our Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR), we have to provide not only the consumables but also the commodities.
“We are not just working but we are running to get these consumables and commodities across to all the service delivery points,” she said.
She stressed that there was the need to increase Contraceptive Prevalence Rate, CPR, adding, “We have to provide not only the consumables but also the commodities. “
According to her, “Developing the operational plan now, but we will put in our best so that before the end of 2018, we will see how far we have achieved from what we set out initially to do.”
