The Challenge Initiative (TCI), a global health programme, has called for increased investment and stronger collaboration to improve family planning and reproductive health services in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria.
The appeal was made by TCI Regional Manager Dr Obasesam Etowa during an inception meeting with the Anambra State Commissioner for Health, Dr Afam Obidike, at the State Ministry of Health headquarters in Awka.
Presenting the organisation’s implementation strategy, Etowa said TCI would focus on sustaining the uptake of modern contraceptives, addressing commodity stockouts, strengthening domestic financing and integrating family planning into maternal, newborn and child health services.
He said Anambra had recorded significant progress in expanding access to modern contraception, with the state’s modern contraceptive prevalence rate rising from 11.7 per cent in 2013 to 22 per cent in 2024. However, he noted that the unmet need for family planning had also increased to 15 per cent, underscoring the need for renewed interventions.
Etowa identified inadequate funding, recurrent shortages of family planning commodities, limited numbers of trained healthcare providers and weak coordination among stakeholders as key challenges affecting the delivery of reproductive health services in the state.
Responding, the Commissioner for Health, Dr. Obidike, welcomed the TCI delegation and commended the organisation for its continued support to Anambra’s healthcare system.
He said, “The presentation highlighted both the progress achieved and the gaps that require further attention, reaffirming the state government’s commitment to working with development partners to improve access to quality healthcare services for women, children and families.”
Obidike stressed the importance of strengthening postpartum family planning counselling, ensuring a consistent supply of family planning commodities and enhancing the capacity of healthcare workers to deliver quality reproductive health services.
He also assured TCI of the Ministry of Health’s readiness to deepen collaboration in line with the state’s healthcare priorities, with the aim of improving maternal and child health outcomes and advancing universal access to reproductive healthcare.
, a global health programme, has called for increased investment and stronger collaboration to improve family planning and reproductive health services in Anambra State, southeastern Nigeria.){kind=link}