World Contraception Day: FPPN partners TCI, takes campaign to downtrodden in Alimosho

To buttress the importance of contraception in tackling the issues of unwanted pregnancies and also eliminate Sexually Transmitted Diseases (STD), September 26 of every year is devoted to it, to sensitise and raise campaign on the need for families to make use of contraceptives.

In view of the celebration, Family Planning Providers Network (FPPN) Lagos Chapter, an organization with vision of a healthy society where barriers to family planning services are removed and maternal mortality is drastically reduced, in collaboration and total support by The Challenge Initiative (TCI) and the Lagos Government, assembled at the BRT Bus-stop at Egbeda in Alimosho Local Government Area of Lagos State for the purpose of sensitising the public on the need for contraceptives and where they can easily obtain them when the need arises.

This activity was carried out in collaboration with the Lagos State Government with support from The Challenge Initiative, an NGO that provides technical support to government in Reproductive Health programming. The Challenge Initiative promotes sustainability and local ownership while demonstrating the feasibility of long-term investment in reproductive health.

Family Providers Network basically is made up of healthcare providers of various categories including Medical doctors, Nurses, the Pharmacists Council, the Patent medicine dealers, among others.

Speaking to the media, the President of FPPN, Difu Madu, Medical Director, IHE Medical Hospitals, Shasha, Lagos State, the campaign is an annual event and it is to remind people of the need for contraceptives. “Today we want also to show our presence for people to know, reminding them the need for contraception, family planning. In fact, all these issues are not peculiar with Nigeria, it is worldwide affair and we have to participate and show our presence today with our activities.

“It is not necessarily sensitization but reminding them, though there are other factors that remind you the need to do family planning, like school fees, the economic situation in the country, and so on. Our duty now is letting you know where you can access those family planning products when you really need them; you see, to adopt family planning is purely economic; the nation is in charge of that, we are here to assist,” Madu stated.

On whether Nigeria as a country is doing enough to ensure people pay attention to issue of family planning, he said “There are many ways of forcing somebody to comply with family planning , that is what is going on, the economy itself, I know some people that come into the clinic for treatment or for whatever, and before you start talking about family planning, they are already telling you about it, the school fees and others, they don’t want more than certain number of children any more, it is already situation induced, so Nigeria has actually done the job.”

On some of the items for distribution to the public, Madu said “We give them condoms, that is what can easily be distributed publicly and then some advice, family planning does not always mean you must use a device; there is also attitude in family planning that may be necessary, like abstinence and others, these are done through education, informing them, awareness, many ways of obtaining family planning approaches, rather than the devices itself. However those devices we have them, and we make sure that if they want to obtain the devices we direct them on the proper way to use them, because everything has its own complications, if you drink a gallon of water now, you will see the effect, as simple as water is, how much more every other thing.”

Anyabuike Ogechi Nelson, the secretary General of FPPN, Lagos State Chapter, while interacting to the media spoke on the modality for the sensitisation, “What we are doing today in Lagos covers 12 clusters, those 12 clusters are holding the programme today, they are Alimosho Cluster, Agege Cluster, Ikorodu, Ifako Ijaye, Ikeja, Lagos Island, Ibeju Lekki, and Mushin Clusters. The clusters that we merge to celebrate with others today are Badagry and Ojo, and today Alimosho is celebrating here at the BRT Bus-stop at Egbeda where everybody that is passing by is sensitized about the programme; that is the way to eradicate unwanted pregnancy in Nigeria. We have to create awareness to stop unwanted pregnancy.”

On reason for choosing the bus-stops he said it is to reach the downtrodden in the society. “It is because we are looking for how to reach out to the last man; that is the downtrodden. If we use five star hotels, the people that will be there are the rich, the average, we may not get the target, the target is the downtrodden, the poorest of the poor, many of them are in the creeks, many of them in the streets, many of them are at the bus-stops, under the bridges, some of them don’t even have homes and they are also having these unwanted pregnancies. So if we don’t reach such places like the bus-stops and all these areas, we would not be able to reach them.”

Nelson said he was happy the objectives of the sensitization were met. “We have been able to reach those agberos, touts, these people that impregnate these little children, the under age, they are at the bus-stops, so we have been able to achieve the objectives of the sensitization today.”

Nelson disclosed that the sensitization began three years ago and the organization has made it an annual event, adding that they still need sponsors. He said “MAPHI has always been part of us, sending reporters to cover our events. IntegratE, TCI, Challenge Initiative, sponsoring our programmes, government of Lagos State has being there also in providing condoms and other logistics. We have only few sponsors and we want many others to come on board.”

His message to members of FPPN is that they should not get tired and they should keep the good work, adding that their selfless efforts cannot be quantified in monetary terms. “I will want our people to note that we are progressing. Last year, what we gave them as T-fare was small but this year is better, and we believe that by the time we have more sponsors, we will be able to give better allowances to them because they are private people, they need to be taken care of. I wouldn’t want them to get tired because of lack of motivation; we are going to do better next year.”

He also appealed for more sponsors “Then for our sponsors, we thank them, we still believe, that they will do better than what is done today, there are lots of things we needed, like T-shirts, you can see that our people don’t have T-shirts, and caps to be able to identify our people. We need buses to be able to move round, had it been we have buses we would have been able to cover a lot of places.”

Grand Metron Pat Abayi Oyebuchi, a registered nurse, the Grand Metron of Lagos State Medicine Dealers spoke on the importance of contraceptive in family planning. “The importance of contraceptives cannot be over-emphasized because it has a lot of benefits. It reduces adolescent mortality rate. We give family planning to adolescents, instead of them to go for abortion. We have different types of family planning, injectable, condom. Condom does dual function, it prevents SDI and it prevents unwanted pregnancy.

“Another thing is that family planning reduces mortality and maternity rate, our women are no longer dying through pregnancy or childbirth because we advise them to plan their families as soon as they give birth, again mothers are now sensitized to give birth to the number of children they would be able to carter for,” she said.