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ABEOKUTA – Worried by the increasing number of unwanted pregnancies and unsafe abortion among the youths, the Ogun State Government says it will focus and capture more adolescents in its family planning initiatives and programmes.
The Executive Secretary, Primary Health Care Development Board, Dr. Elijah Ogunsola made this revelation in Abeokuta at a meeting with the State’s Technical Working Group on Reproductive Health, to draft the 2020-2024 Costed Implementation Plan (CIP).
Ogunsola who noted that the document would be a road map for effective reproductive health/family planning activities, emphasised the need for sexual and reproductive health education, as well as uptake of modern contraceptive methods for adolescent and women of child bearing age, to discourage them from patronising quacks, especially patent medicine practitioners.
“Ogun State being a front liner in family planning programmes, has been proactive and we have what we call the Costed Implementation Plan document that is like an advocacy tool for us. The document contains what we actually need to provide comprehensive family planning service for our women, and we have commenced process of reviewing it to meet the current realities’’, he said.
The Executive Secretary stated that the document when completed, would ensure that youths take informed decisions about their reproductive health, adding that it would also reduce the practice of unsafe abortion and secondary infertility in the future.
Earlier in his welcome address, the State Reproductive Health Coordinator, Dr. Isreal Orire said the meeting would promote coordination and collaboration among implementing agencies and stakeholders, as well as identify expected outcomes to improve on what had been done in the past, noting that Reproductive Health was an integral part of primary health care and should be strengthened to ensure success.
Contributing, the State Programme Coordinator, The Challenge Initiative (TCI), Mrs. Busola Oyeyemi stated that the past CIP and outbreak of COVID-19 had provided the State the opportunity to identify the needs of adolescents and youths when seeking reproductive health counselling, guidance and family planning uptake, expressing optimism that the 2020-2024 blueprint would ensure that they approach the right channels.
