By Iliya Kure & Joseph Edegbo
In demonstration of its strong commitment and leadership to tackling maternal and child deaths in Nigeria, Kaduna State government has created additional budget line to finance all the components of child birth spacing.
The Budget line titled ‘Family Planning (FP) Programme’ has a Budget Code 22020611
In 2017, the state government created a budget line which addressed procurement of consumables, one of the 6 key components of the programme.
With the current move, the remaining 5 components, comprising Demand Generation and Behavioural Change Communication; Staff Training; Forecasting and Distribution Logistics; Policy and Financing; as well as Supervision, Monitoring and Coordination, will now be addressed.
These 6 components are seen by experts as key to increasing the number of women who want to space their child births, in the ultimate reduce maternal death.
Kaduna has been tasked by federal government to raise the percentage of women who want to space their births from 20% in 2015 to 46.5% by 2018. It was part of a global commitment Nigeria made in London in 2012 – aimed at reducing the country’s high maternal death burden.
Currently only 24% of women of reproductive age in the state are able to space, this is largely due to non-investment in the programme as required. But ongoing effort by the state government, development partners, local NGOs, religious leaders, traditional rulers and the media is helping the state is reaching the farthest with quality information and services.
No doubt, Kaduna State has been in the forefront of fighting maternal and child deaths, this is reflected in the creation of enabling environment for safe motherhood programming, as well as creation of a dedicated child spacing budget line, among others. These actions have attracted not less than 11 development partners who are currently working in the state on child spacing programming, aside other partners working on other reproductive health interventions.
The state has recently procured child spacing consumables worth about N100 million for distribution to health facilities, for women to access the services free, contrary to N500 being paid. This is the first stride by any State in Nigeria on reducing maternal deaths through child spacing programming.
Stakeholder Efforts
A non-government organisation, Family Health Advocates in Nigeria Initiative (FHANI), alongside other development partners, has been in the forefront of advocacy for the creation of enabling environment for child spacing programming in Kaduna state.
FHANI last week organised a meeting, attended by representatives from Kaduna State Drugs Management Agency (DMA), State Primary Health Care Development Agency (SPHCDA), Ministry of Health and Human Services (MoHHS), Planning and Budget Commission and the Media, where the need for another budget line to cover the other components was advanced.
The meeting emphasised the need for increased funding of child spacing activities to cover all aspects of the programme and ensure services are delivered to women in need, especially at the grass root.
The media has shown strong support for the initiative and is supporting actions by government and development partners through targeted messages that are strategically developed and disseminated. Development Communication Networks (DevComs) and Africa Media Development Foundation (AMDF) have jointly provided leadership to the media in this effort.
Trained religious and traditional leaders are moving from community to community to engage and enlighten people with relevant information on the need to space their births.
Reactions on the New Budget Line
Commenting on the development, Acting Chairman of FHANI, Malam Bala Mohammed Tijjani, said the action by Kaduna State government is a demonstration that they want to reduce drastically maternal deaths in the state.
“Apart from reduction in the death of women and children, investing in child spacing will also help the state save money in the long run,” he said.
He added that the action will also bring to an end the practice of payment of money by women to access child birth spacing services in the state. Currently women in Kaduna State pay an average of N500 to access the services.
Also reacting, State Reproductive Health/Family Planning Coordinator, Hajiya Nafisat Musa, who was highly elated commended the state government for the move, saying the leadership has proven it is sensitive to the needs of the people
Hajiya Nafisat Musa who also commended FHANi for being in the forefront towards achieving this feat, congratulated women and all child spacing stakeholders in the state for the new development.
She reaffirmed the commitment of the Child Spacing Unit to the full implementation of the programme, as well as ensuring effective monitoring and Supervision of Service Providers.
“We will monitor them to ensure strict compliance with laid down procedure and guidelines,” she said.
Speaking with AFRICA PRIME NEWS, Programme Officer Reproductive Health, Pathfinder International, Dr. Sakina Aminu, full of excitement on the development, said, “this is the collective objective which FHANI and Pathfinder International set to achieve this year.
This is good news! I am so, so happy with this development. It is a demonstration that Kaduna State government wants to end the high rate of maternal deaths. I am wishing the state well in this direction.
In an interview, the State Team Leader of Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI), Malam Kabir Mohammed Abdullahi, said, “I am glad that the the journey we started since 2009 is yielding fruit. The state has picked up and things are happening.
“Kaduna State has demonstrated that it has understood the role of child spacing in reducing maternal deaths. We call on other northern states to emulate Kaduna by investing in child spacing a sure way to reducing maternal death.
“We are also happy that a Nigerian NGO, FHANI, has taken the bull by the horn in advocacy. FHANI is a household name on child spacing advocacy,” he said.
Coordinator of Africa Media Development Foundation (AMDF), Sekyen Dadik, said, the role being played by the media cannot be overemphasised.
“With this development we hope to see more media engagement that will help women understand where to access these free services, especially now that a budgetary provision is made to address demand generation.
“We have worked with partners to train journalists and other media workers on reporting child spacing in northern Nigeria, especially Kaduna, that is why child spacing reportage is higher in Kaduna that any state in Nigeria.
“I assure you, we shall continue to partner relevant stakeholders in the area of media capacity development, for them to understand their role better and play it effectively in reducing maternal deaths,” she said.
https://www.africaprimenews.com/2018/04/27/development/advocacy-group-commends-kaduna-for-spending-n97-million-on-child-spacing-consumables/
