Govt backpedalling on promises, health coalition tells Buhari

The group Civil Society for Family Planning in Nigeria (CISFP) said Nigeria’s pledge to provide an annual total of $11.35 million (around N2.2 billion) to procure commodities for family planning has “not been fully realized as promised.”It also said the government developed a four-year blueprint to scale up family planning nationwide, expected to cost more […]

The group Civil Society for Family Planning in Nigeria (CISFP) said Nigeria’s pledge to provide an annual total of $11.35 million (around N2.2 billion) to procure commodities for family planning has “not been fully realized as promised.”
It also said the government developed a four-year blueprint to scale up family planning nationwide, expected to cost more than $600 million (around N119 billion) until 2018, “and yet no financial allocation to implement this plan has been made,” according to CISFP national coordinator Wale Adeleye.
The demand in a seven-point comes amidst concern that the major political parties and candidates did not give my concern to health in their election campaigns.
“That is why we are speaking out, and we will continue to engage them to let them see the necessity,” Adeleye told Daily Trust.
The seven-point also include a focus on financing reproductive health and family planning through public-private partnerships; implement work plans developed by the UN Commission for Life-Saving Commodities which President Goodluck Jonathan co-chairs alongside the Swedish prime minister; full implementation of the newly signed National Health Act and increasing health manpower.
It also includes demand for opportunity to harness Nigeria’s demographic dividend based on an increasing number of working-age people living in urban areas; access to commodities, choice and equity as a human right to speed up demographic transition and national development.
Among the coalition are Evidence for Action, International Pregnancy Advisory Services, Population Council International, Champions for Change, Pathfinder International and Association for Reproductive and Family Health.
Others are International Consortium on Emergency Contraceptives, Marie Stopes International Organisation Nigeria, Bayer Healthcare and CISFP.