(By Basil Obasi – ABUJA)
The United States Agency for International Development has said that it had spent N9.12 billion (about $30 million), to promote family planning and other health interventions in Nigeria annually.
The Director of Health, Population and Nutrition, USAID Nigeria, Dr Nancy Lawanthal, who made this disclosure at the ongoing 4th National Family Planning Conference in Abuja, noted that the agency had made significant investment in reproductive health in Nigeria.
The director noted that the USAID has devoted over $30m on reproductive health in Nigeria explaining that health intervention in Nigeria is one of the agency’s largest country programmes in the world.
According to her, Nigerians have not been leading the programme as expected as no donor had been able to front for USAID in Nigeria.
Lawanthal added that USAID needed stronger commitment from Nigerians to derive the values and benefits of reproductive health services in the country adding that donors’ commitment was less important than the commitment of Nigerians themselves.
“With close to 600 million girls growing up in developing countries, achieving global prosperity starts with educating and empowering these young women so they can be healthy, productive members of their communities and become agents of change. As donor partners, we also need to see more resources on the table to create more demand for family planning services in Nigeria,” she said.