By Iliya Kure
Despite increase of family planning (FP) users in Nigeria, only 13.8% of women aged 15-49 are using modern contraception in the country, and one-in-four married women aged 15-49 have unmet need for modern contraception.
A report released Monday at the ongoing International Conference on Family Planning in Kigali, Rwanda, reveals that over 1.7 million additional users of modern contraception in Nigeria have been added since 2012.
The report also shows that modern methods of contraception have prevented over 2 million unintended pregnancies and 735,000 unsafe abortions between July 2017 and July 2018.
The report entitled FP2020: Catalyzing Collaboration has been produced by Family Planning 2020 (FP2020) – a global partnership that supports the rights of women and girls to freely decide whether, when, and how many children they want to have. The report for the first time ever includes new data on government spending on family planning in Nigeria.
According to the report, more women and girls in the world’s 69 lowest-income countries are making the voluntary choice to use contraception.
“Rights-based family planning is a catalyst that unlocks the potential of girls and women in Nigeria and around the world. Our goal is to ensure that each one is able to exercise her basic rights to self-determination, health, dignity, and equality.
“This is a core strategy for countries to improve the health and well-being of their citizens and economy. Today said Beth Schlachter, Executive Director of Family Planning 2020.
“Women represent half the global population, and there can be no healthy population globally or in Nigeria without reproductive health care.
“As we continue to build the framework for Universal Health Coverage (UHC), we must ensure access to full, free, voluntary contraception is included for all women and girls. As countries build UHC strategies, rights-based family planning and SRHR services must be integrated within primary health care systems.”, she said.
Highlights of the report which is available at [progress.familyplanning2020.org] shows:
In Nigeria:
- In Nigeria, among women aged 15-49, an estimated 13.8% or 6.2 million are using a modern method of contraception in 2018. This is 1,713,000 more than in 2012.
- The rate of modern contraceptive use among married women has increased to 12.2%.
- As a result of modern contraceptive use between July 2017 and July 2018:
○ 2,060,000 unintended pregnancies were prevented
○ 735,000 unsafe abortions were averted
○ 12,000 maternal deaths were averted
- However, 24.8% of married women aged 15-49 have an unmet need for a modern method of contraception.
Globally:
- The number of women and girls using a modern method of contraception in the world’s 69 poorest countries had grown to more than 317 million, as of July 2018.
- This is 46 million more users than in 2012 (the year FP2020 was launched) – an increase that is around 30% greater than the historic trend.
- The use of modern contraceptives is growing the fastest in FP2020 countries in Africa: as of July 2018, 24% of women of reproductive age in these countries are using a modern method.
