FG partners private sector to improve funding, access to family planning

The Federal Government and its development partners have said the role of the private sector is crucial in improving funding for family planning and women’s access to services across the country.

The stakeholders said Nigeria needs to think about leveraging technology through the private sector to bridge the $29 million procurement funding gap for family planning commodities.

They noted that making family planning services available to women and girls will not only curb maternal deaths in Nigeria but will also promote economic empowerment and growth.

Speaking during a high-level private sector forum on family planning in Lagos, organised by the United Nations Population Fund, the stakeholders expressed worry that maternal mortality has become a major public health challenge in Nigeria.

According to the World Health Organisation, Nigeria has the second highest rate of maternal mortality in the world, with a ratio of 512/100,000 live births.

A study published in the journal Lancet Global Health in 2021 found that family planning could avert 23 per cent of maternal deaths in Nigeria each year.

In his address, the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Prof. Ali Pate, said the cost of procurement for family planning products increased from $26.6 million in 2019 to $41.8 million in 2023.

He stated that over the same period, the procurement funding gap increased from $ 5.7 million to $29 million, making it impossible to achieve a full supply of family planning commodities to health facilities.

Represented by the Director of the Family Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Dr Stella Nwosu, said the just concluded 64th National Council on Health meeting approved the request for the establishment of budget lines for family planning at both national and sub-national levels.

“A broad-based stakeholder engagement process involving the public, social marketing as well as the private sectors is required.

“It is important to note that a national guideline on private engagement for family planning has already been developed and will be a useful tool in driving this process.”

Pate said the forum aims to secure commitment for family planning by private sectors, present family planning investment cases for feedback and discuss plans towards actualising the family planning target of 2030.

He also called for strategies around innovative financing and technology-driven family planning programmes in the country.

“Actualising local production of family planning commodities in Nigeria should also be on the agenda with international manufacturers being encouraged to go into partnership with Nigerian companies.

“We should also not forget to come up with a list of “asks” for the government to address towards creating the enabling environment for our ideas to thrive”, he said.

Special Adviser to the President on Health, Dr Salma Anas, in her keynote address, said the funding gap posed myriad challenges to family planning service provision.

“Our chance at enabling the country to reap the dividends of this demography lies in our ability to follow this transition with a lower fertility rate, which would enable a greater per capita investment in health, education and other aspects of human development and could lead to huge economic returns for the country,” she said.

On her part, the wife of the Governor of Lagos State, Dr Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, said
beyond curbing maternal death, family planning enables women to pursue their educational and career aspirations, acquire more wealth, and in the long run, contribute to the socio-economic development of their immediate communities.

Represented by Permanent Secretary, Health District 6, Dr Abimbola Mabogunje, Sanwo-Olu said families that have the number of children they can afford to train can devote more resources to providing them with adequate food, education, clothing, shelter and other necessities.

“Although the government is making frantic efforts to make access to modern family planning free for women, there is a need for all relevant stakeholders in the health sector to join forces with the government to chart a course towards effective funding of family planning services.”

Also, Group Head, Corporate Communications, Access Holding Plc, Mr Amaechi Okobi, said, “At Access Holdings, we firmly believe that empowering women transcends being merely a social imperative; it is an economic imperative, a moral imperative, and a pathway to sustainable development.

“Our commitment to family health is grounded in the understanding that women’s health is the cornerstone of thriving communities and prosperous societies.

“We envision a future where every woman has the agency to make informed choices about her reproductive health. We understand that family planning is not just a health issue; it is an issue of empowerment, education, and economic opportunity.”

Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Aliko Dangote Foundation, Zouera Youssoufou, said family planning has lots of benefits, noting that evidence abounds on the impacts of family planning on nutrition.

Citing the impact of family planning on maternal and child health, Youssoufou said there’s an urgent need for all stakeholders to join forces and chart the course towards effective funding of family planning services in Nigeria.

“It is important that both the private sector and the traditional medical facilities are taken along in this discussion.

“By raising our voices together, we can make the strongest case for how increasing investments in family planning will rapidly drive down morbidity and mortality associated with lack of access to voluntary family planning services.

“This calls for more engagement of a wide range of private sector actors as I mentioned above”, she said.

Youssoufou further said, “Development partners can play a key role in ensuring that equity considerations are always in the forefront of private sector engagement initiatives, promoting inclusiveness and participation of low‑income groups in the benefits of private sector contributions and activities.

“In achieving the aforementioned, the development partners could assist public and private sector participants to work together more fruitfully and enhance prospects of effective collaboration in the interests of better family services for end users.”

Deputy Representative, UNFPA Nigeria, Mr Koessan Kuawu, said they were delighted to be supporting the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare to convene this high-level private sector forum on family planning to mobilise and galvanize efforts to ending preventable maternal death with the support of the private sector.

Kuawu noted, “By reducing the number of unintended pregnancies, spacing pregnancies, empowering women to make informed decisions about their reproductive health, and improving access to quality healthcare, family planning saves lives.

“Unfortunately, family planning needs in Nigeria remain largely unmet with a funding gap amounting to $32 million in 2023 (need of $41,9 million against funding of $12,4 million); this results in 19 per cent off women of reproductive age who want family planning not having access it, according to the latest National Demographic Health Survey of 2018.

“We believe that a mutually beneficial partnership with the organised private sector, clearly articulated in Nigeria’s FP2030 commitments and the National Private Sector Engagement Strategy will bring about: Saving the lives of thousands of women and girls in our communities.

“Offering an opportunity and support to the Private Sector entities to fulfil their social responsibilities in an impactful way. ”

He said operating the required paradigm shift from the perception of family planning as a health issue to the understanding that family planning is an important development agenda, an economic empowerment tool that has the potential of better positioning Nigeria.