An NGO, Community Awareness Development Initiative (CADI), has called on Nigerians to embrace family planing to promote resposible parenthood and encourage proper population growth.
The Chairman, Board of Trustee of the organisation, Alhaji Sani Umar-Jabbi, made the call in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Saturday in Sokoto.
He said that family planing control mechanism could be used as instrument to contain social and security challenges in the country.
Umar-Jabbi, who is also the District Head of Gagi in Sokoto South LGA, advocated proactive measures to encourage best family planing practices in the country.
“Family planning is the ability of individuals and couples to anticipate and attain their desired number of children, spacing and timing of their births, achieved through the use of contraceptives.
“It is widely recognise as one of the most cost-effective health interventions to save lives, improves maternal and child health.
“Family planning services allows individuals to achieve desired birth spacing and family size. Economic hardship is affecting some families, especially those with many children that could not cater for them,” he said.
According to him, proper family planing system will enable families and authorities to check security challenges and ensure efficient resource management.
He called for increased investment in family planing services to deal with rising population indices and security challenges.
The Chairman said the organisation had embarked on awareness creation activities to mobilise community participation in security, maternal and reproductive health services as well as campaign against Gender Based Violence (GBV).
He said that the organisation had trained about 400 youths and women as was religious leaders on dangers associated SGBV and how to address the menace.
The organisation, he said had introduced an award scheme to recognise outstanding health workers and women to encourate immunisations coverage and improved access to quality healthcare service delivery at the grassroots.
He said the gesture was to encourage more women to attend antenatal and post natal care in Gagi community and environs..
“There is need to identify danger signs in pregnancy before, during and after child birth so that more measures could be taken to reduce maternal and child mortality rate.
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“In order to achieve 2030 sustainable Development Goals Nigeria need to increase the proportion of women delivered by skilled attendants,” he said. (NAN)