The Osun State Government has pledged to sustain the progress made in family planning services, achieved with the support of The Challenge Initiative (TCI), a non-governmental organisation.
The state Commissioner for Health, Mr. Jola Akintola, made this known on Tuesday in Osogbo at a stakeholders’ meeting themed “Sustaining Family Planning Intervention: Transitioning Osun Government to Self-Reliance.”
Akintola commended TCI for its support and reiterated the government’s commitment to ensuring continued access to quality family planning services across the state.
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The reports say that the programme was organised by the state government in partnership with TCI.
Akintola said the partnership had led to a significant improvement in family planning uptake, while the state government remained committed to prioritising family planning and reproductive health in the state.
“We recognise the importance of family planning in achieving sustainable development and improving the health and well-being of our citizens.
“As we celebrate our achievements and recognised outstanding contributions, I urge us all to continue working together towards a future where every individual in the state will have access to quality family planning services,” he said.
In her remarks, the State Family Planning Coordinator, Mrs Ololade Abatan, said 76,008 men and women had taken up family planning in the last three years of TCI intervention in the state.
Abatan said this was a significant improvement in family planning uptake in the state following TCI intervention.
Also, Dr Taiwo Johnson, Country Director of TCI, said there had been gradual, remarkable improvement in family planning uptake in the state following TCI intervention.
“As the state government was transitioning to self-reliance in family planning, TCI wanted to see more women taking up family planning in the state.
“After three years of TCI intervention, the state will now start to fund and own its family planning programmes.
“One of the things we mentioned when we started was that we wanted the state to reach the stage of sustainability.
“This basically means that Osun State will start funding and owning its family planning programmes after an average of three and a half years of TCI intervention to ensure the sustainability of the various achievements,” she added.
Similarly, Dr Olukunle Omotoso,
Senior Technical Advisor, TCI, Nigeria, said the overall goal of TCI was to achieve self-reliance by scaling up family planning, leading to sustained improvement in urban health systems.
Omotoso, however, called on the state government to increase funding for family planning in the state.
He said the demand for family planning in the state was high, but there was need for more funding for procurement of family planning commodities.
The senior technical adviser also called on the state government to recruit more service providers to replace those retiring to meet the demands for family planning.
He urged the state government to sustained the gains it had achieved in the uptake of family planning in the state.