Stakeholders in the health sector have attributed Nigeria’s
under-development, security challenges and other challenges in other
sectors of the economy to the absence of the culture of family planning
in the country.
Speaking yesterday in Abuja at a press briefing to flag off the
National Family Planning Conference coming up today, the Chairman,
Family Action Planning Group, Prof Ladipo, noted that crises pervades
every sector of the economy, including education, health, road,
agriculture and security.
He said, “If you reduce the family size to a number that is
manageable, there’ll be enough to invest in healthcare, education and
others and also be able to empower women.”
According to Ladipo, without mainstreaming family planning in
national activities, the nation cannot achieve the MDGs by 2015, adding
that other Asian Tiger countries that embraced family planning have
success stories to tell.
Ladipo explained that the conference sought to promote qualitative
reproduction and birth spacing in Nigeria, and noted that “there is
wisdom to lower fertility in order to stimulate economic growth.”
He maintained that there is no law now or in future to enforce family planning, making the practice voluntary.
On the impact of the practice, he said: “You don’t have to do any
research; it is palpable; it is visible, seeing the challenges of a huge
population.”
In her remarks, the co-chairman of the local organizing committee of
the conference, Mrs. Mairo Mandara, said some of the challenges to
maternal health today in the country were because women were not
planning their families in a way that will make them healthier.
“Family planning promotes healthy living for the whole family,” she noted.
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