FP services are available in 587 health facilities located across rural and urban settlements and are administered by health personnel in Sokoto State, an official says.
No fewer than 587 healthcare centres are providing Family Planning (FP) services out of 829 health facilities in Sokoto State, an official said.
The Health Management Information System Officer in the State Ministry of Health, Garba Muhammad, disclosed this at a capacity-building training on Wednesday in Birnin Kebbi.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the training is tagged "Strategic Data Capacity and Result Based Reporting for Sustainable Development", for data and planning officers in Sokoto State government ministries and agencies.
The event was organised by the Sokoto State Ministry of Budget and Economic Planning in collaboration with the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA).
Mr Muhammad said the FP services were available in health facilities located across rural and urban settlements being administered by health personnel in the state.
He explained that health workers were trained in the administration of the instruments geared toward ensuring child spacing among couples.
According to him, the FP services were incorporated into antenatal and postnatal care services for pregnant and nursing mothers as well as child spacing and overall maternity services along with health talks.
Mr Muhammad encouraged families to access the services which were being provided free to the citizens and enjoined stakeholders to contribute to educating the populace on the importance of family planning services.
The Reproductive Health Coordinator in Sokoto State Ministry of Health, Mairo Rabiu-Sharif, lamented the absence of an active policy on family planning in the state.
Mrs Rabiu-Sharif insisted that having an active policy would facilitate access to FP services as obtained in other countries, adding that at present, the services were voluntary.
She urged stakeholders to contribute in advocating for budgetary provision on FP, stressing that FP takes the largest share of poor practices as one of the health challenges in Nigeria.
The coordinator further called on all the stakeholders to collaborate to bring an end to the harmful traditional practices and look at the possibility of using Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) on FP services as well as birth registration in society.
Sign up for free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the latest in African news delivered straight to your inbox
"We all know the consequences of the absence of FP practice has caused to the female gender, effects from childhood to adulthood and how it also affects families and marriages," she said.
In his presentation, the state chairperson of the National Population Commission (NPC), Malami Marafa-Gagi, said Nigeria's population was rising ahead of other countries with a high percentage of childbirth and low death rates experienced in the country.
Mr Marafa-Gagi dwelt on NPC services comprising civil registration and vital statistics which provide real-time population information that was critical for the nation's planning, saying, " It entailed routine registration of live births, deaths, migrations, schoolings, employment and other statistics."
He said population data were being gathered through census, surveys, administrative, routine and research data as best planning instruments for development planning at all levels.
The director added that the projected population growth had minimal hindrance by conflicts, climate change, rising poverty and inequality being experienced in the country.
According to him, child delivery rates are high in Sokoto State, with poor acceptance of family planning services based on the findings, adding that population growth is faster with about 6 million population at present.
Mr Malami-Gagi provided statistical indicators on the world population, African population and that of states, with growth rates based on standard practices and urged the stakeholders to deploy a drastic approach to tackling demographic planning.
(NAN)
