With Funding Shortfall, Experts Urge FG To Increase Allocation To Family Planning in COVID-19 Pandemic

The Federal Government has been urged to prioritise family planning and close funding gaps in the face of COVID-19 pandemic. The resolution came at a webinar tagged, “Securing the Funding Gap for Family Planning in the Face of COVID-19”. The webinar held on Friday, June 3, 2020, was organised by Premium Times Centre For Investigative Journalism (PTCIJ) in collaboration with Partnership for Advocacy in Child & Family and Development Research (PACFaH) and Development Research Projects Centre (dRPC).

Mr. Lawrence Anyanwu, Director of Family Planning Branch, Family Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health, noted that the federal government is committed to contributing annually to the procurement of commodities. He said the funding is to support efforts coming from other sources to ensure there are adequate quantities of contraceptives to meet the country’s family planning needs. 

“In the past few years, we have been repositioning family planning,  contributing to the reduction of maternal and infant mortality rate. One of the ways the FG is taking steps is to ensure the benefit arising from Family Planning towards improving the health of women and children are harnessed.” 

Mr. Anyanwu stated further that the first commitment of FG elapsed in 2014, and it was renewed by 2017 and increased to $4 million.

Dataphyte analysis of Mr. Anayanwu’s submission showed that the federal government committed N3.95 billion to Family Planning since 2015. From the figure, N2 billion has been released. The rest is captured in the 2020 budget, while the government is yet to release part of the 2019 funding.

According to the Director, the commitments are paid directly to the account of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA). The UNFPA has a substantive MOU with the government to manage the procurement of commodities using contributions from the FG, UNICEF, DFID, and UNFPA itself.

Data shows FG’s commitments to Family Planning since 2015, according to Lawrence Anyanwu, Director of Family Planning Branch, Family Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health.

“This is the journey so far. I think the government has been doing fairly well. There are challenges, but officials are taking steps to ensure commitments are implemented,” he said.

He said the Ministry of Health would continue to engage with the Ministry of Finance to ensure that the balance of the 2019 shortfall is released alongside the full appropriation for this year. 

Dr. Habib Sadauki, First Vice president, Society of Gynaecology and Obstetrics of Nigeria (SOGON), called for the need to address family planning to solve the high maternal mortality rate in the country. Dr. Sadauki said people must talk about family planning and ensure that funding is in place.

Ekenem Isichei, Managing Director at ACIOE Associates, suggests the need for evidence-based advocacy efforts to strengthen the capacity of health care workers, data generation, and mapping.

Dr. Ejike Oji, a technical advisory expert on COVID-19, says Family Planning will continue to be the human right of every woman in Nigeria. He advised stakeholders to think outside the box in the new normal to get appreciable impact. “We need to be innovative and go private sector, change our distribution pattern.”

Dr. Minnie Oseji, President, Medical Women’s Association of Nigeria, called for male involvement in family planning in Nigeria. She urged men to discuss the male-option for family planning in Nigeria.