By Lola Seriki- Idahosa, Kaduna, NorthWest, Nigeria
Executive Secretary kaduna state Primary Health Care, Dr. Hadiza Balarabe has disclosed that some of the challenges face in Kaduna in the services of family planning is Barriers, saying that it has render services unavailable even in places where they are physically available.
She said even when family planning services and sexual and reproductive programs exist, access can be difficult because of cost, and distance to service delivery point, or requirements for parental consent in the case of adolescents
She also disclosed that Insufficient funding for Family Planning is a great challenge in the programs
Another challenge is the Judgmental attitude of providers to clients and Religious, cultural misconception on the use of FP products.
Balarabe, who was represented by a Dr. Iiiyasu Neyu (MBBS, FWACP Comm. Health) Director PHC & Consultant Public Health Physician state primary Care Development Agency at an event to commemorate the ‘World Population Day’ in Kaduna organized in collaboration with the agency and funded by Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI), through Development Communication (DevComs) Network, saying that the whole essence of the commemoration is to “educate youths to avoid unwanted pregnancies.
He also revealed that over 15 million women, 19 years of age give birth every year, globally with over 4 million of them ending up in abortion.
She charged Journalists to raise public awareness about dangers of too early childbirth, educate on STD (sexually transmitted diseases), demand effective laws and policies implementation in order to protect girl child rights, ensure access of equal primary education.
According to her, “Make sure the easy access of reproductive health services everywhere as part the basic primary health for each poverty, to protect and empower youths of both gender and sensitise them on the need to delay marriages till they are able to understand their responsibilities.”
The theme for this year World Population day “Family Planning as a Human right”, Dr. Balarabe, noted that, “a basic human right is to be able to get safe and effective family planning. It should also be a voluntary choice.
“Human Rights Aspects of Family Planning,“ connects this right to “the dignity and worth of the human person,” and notes the relationship between access to family planning and the status of women.
2018 marks the 50th anniversary of a conference that focused on family planning. In 1968, the International Conference on Human Rights was held. For the first time ever, family planning was affirmed to be a human right.
“The Tehran Proclamation, adopted during the conference, states that it is a basic right of parents to be able to decide on the number and spacing of their children.
“Millions of women, globally, are still not given access to safe and effective family planning methods. Which is why it has been chosen as the focus for 2018.”
She enumerated some standards to uphold the human right to family planning as follows; Non-discrimination, availability, accessibility, acceptability, good quality. Others are informed decision-making, privacy and confidentiality, participation and accountability.
Earlier in her remarks, the Coordinator of the Africa Media Development Foundation (AMDF), Sekyen Dadik, noted that most women are not aware that family planning is a human right.
She charged the media with the responsibility to educate them on their human right, saying that over population have an overbearing effects on every part of life like diseases, poverty and crime, it is everyone’s responsibility to ensure that proper child spacing is adopted.
In conclusion it was agreed that all stakeholders must come together in Life management.
Like the great thinker said, life has no meaning, it is an opportunity to create a meaning
“Lets us create meaning in the lives of our girls, women and mothers by protecting and empowering them to avoid exhaustion, depletion and the danger of too early or too many
