By Asma’u Ahmad
The Gombe State Government has established 313 health facilities providing Family Planning services.
The state Family Planning Coordinator, Mrs. Rejoice Bala, said the policy was part of efforts to reduce maternal and child mortality rate in the state.
Mrs. Bala spoke during a one-day workshop organised by Pathfinder International for journalists and faith based organisations in Gombe.
She said the state currently has about 556,109 women within reproductive age, yet a huge number of them die as a result of preventable complications.
“Despite the increasing population of the state, it currently has a total of 4,320 health workers in public sector, 550 health facilities
out of which only 313 of them provide FP services,” she said. According to her, concerted efforts are being made by the state government, development partners, international donors and other NGOs to reduce death rates among women and children in the state.
Mrs. Bala said lack of adequate number of personnel and limited facilities, among other challenges, have continued to threaten
effective healthcare delivery especially to rural areas in the state.
Tthe Programme Facilitator, Pathfinder International, Dr. Sakina Bello, said the effort was out of concern on the threatening rate of
maternal mortality and its devastating effects to the family and societal wellbeing.
According to her, recent reports by World Bank have indicated that 814 out of 500,000 pregnant women Nigeria die as a result of high risk
pregnancies and child birth complications, while maternal deaths accounts for 25.6 per cent of deaths of women within child boarding age.
“By reducing the number of unwanted and high risk pregnancies, family planning is key to reducing the risks of maternal deaths, while
increasing the use of family planning methods can reduce maternal deaths by four per cent,” she explained.
Stakeholders at the forum urged the state government to encourage child spacing and proper Family Planning among its populace as such
practices have been proved to have effective impact of reducing maternal and child mortality by 45 per cent.
They said creating awareness on child spacing and family planning would impact on reducing maternal mortality and development of
reproductive society.
