Bianca Iboma-Emefu
Ogun State House of Assembly Committee on Health has assured a better policy framework for family planning/childbirth spacing and adolescent reproductive healthcare.
The House said the policy framework will prevent maternal mortality and morbidity deaths as well as child marriage, unwanted pregnancy, abortion and other young person’s molestation in the society.
Chairman of the Committee, Adegoke Adeyanju, stated this while playing host to a non-governmental advocacy working group, Family Health Initiative Ogun (FAHIO), at the Assembly’s complex, Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
Adeyanju said family healthcare remains a core aspect that needed to be strengthened for the general wellbeing of the society, noting that the Public Private Partnership (PPP) initiative of Governor Dapo Abiodun-led administration was an all-encompassing avenue to facilitate the required framework for the provision of effective family planning services and adolescent reproductive healthcare programmes.
He pointed out that the committee would link up with relevant government agencies to know the situation surrounding its budgeting, fund release, service delivery, availability of commodities and consumables in order to enhance its services.
“This aspect of healthcare is germane due to the fact that the wellbeing of mothers, children and adolescents has multiple effects on the family and the society at large. Governor Abiodun administration has taken healthcare serious which made him to declare state of emergency in the sector. I want to assure this group that your concern for improvement in the provision of family planning/childbirth spacing and adolescent reproductive health will be looked into,’’ Adeyanju said
Earlier, FAHIO Chairperson, Oluwakemi Balogun, said the group believed in advocacy to strengthen the health system of Ogun State for the sustenance of its landmark indices records.
She said provision of adequate consumables to public health facilities would allow for free access of family planning services and afford the state to meet up the 52 percent Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR) by 2020.