Tunji Adedeji
The National Population Commission, NPC on Monday, lamented the lack of adequate family planning services in Imo State and many parts of the country, during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic.
Prof. Uba Nnabue , Federal Commissioner National Population Commission, NPC, Imo State expressed concern that full blown consequence of the pandemic manifested when affected countries and regions applied the Lockdown measures to contain and curtail the spread.
Nnabue stated this at his office in Owerri while speaking during the press briefing, to mark this year’s World Population Day.
The soft spoken NPC Commissioner said in the frantic effort to address matters arising from Covid-19 in Nigeria, issues of Reproductive Health particularly family planning suffered complete neglect.
He said this year’s event, themed: ‘Right and Choice are the Answer, Whether Baby Boom or Bust, the Solution lies in Prioritizing the Reproductive Health and Right of all people” aimed at bringing to the fore the enormous challenges women and girls encountered during the peak of the Covid-19 pandemic and afterwards in relation to information choices.
The NPC boss said, evidence shows that those with access to sexual and reproductive health services, historically, delay childbearing in times of fiscal uncertainty or crisis. Whole distributions in the predicted to result in a sharp rise in unplanned pregnancies for the most vulnerable.
He pointed out that the Covid-19 pandemic lockdown posed unbiased, challenge that worsened the situation of women and girls especially those in humanitarian and fragile contexts, where health and social systems were already weak.
He called on Government to step forward and collaborate with the private sector and it’s various partners to strengthen national supply chains contraceptive commodities and consumables.
According to him, “we need to embrace innovative models of care, such as tele-health as well as retain skilled staff al service post for effective and sis trained service delivery.”
He said “quality, reliable, accurate, robust, comprehensive and well -disaggregated data to drive the full implementation of the just approved Revised Nigeria Policy on Population for Sustainable Development (NPP) is a prerequisite for addressing the concerns highlighted by the theme of this year’s World Population Day.”
Prof Nnabue said that NPC is ready but awaiting President Muhammadu Buhari’s approval to conduct a national census by any time soon.
He further said NPC was strategizing and working hard to ensure that the mistakes of the past were corrected by conducting an accurate and reliable census.
