These challenges demand renewed urgency, innovation, and collaboration to achieve the FP2030 targets
Medical experts have raised concerns about Nigeria's high fertility rates, and low family planning uptake, which continue to contribute to poor maternal and child health outcomes while accelerating rapid population growth.
The experts shared these insights on Wednesday at the ongoing Nigeria Family Planning Conference 2024 in Abuja.
The conference themed, 'Sustaining commitments for family planning within the Nigeria health sector renewal investment initiative, advancing progress towards achieving FP2030 goals,' was organised by the Association for the Advancement of Family Planning in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare.
Speaking at the event, Chairman of the Management Committee, AAFP, Ejike Oji, said family planning (FP) is a transformative tool that empowers individuals, strengthens families, and accelerates its national development.
Mr Oji, who is also the Chairman of the Local Organising Committee for the conference, said FP saves lives, reduces maternal and infant mortality, promotes gender equity, and also advances social and economic progress.
"The evidence is clear. $1 invested in contraceptive services saves $3 in maternal and newborn health costs by reducing unintended pregnancies," he said.
"These savings unlock critical investments in education, infrastructure, and healthcare, fostering the conditions needed to achieve Nigeria's demographic dividend."
He explained that in Nigeria, FP programmes are making strides, but challenges persist.
He said disparities in access shaped by regional, educational, and socioeconomic differences continue to deny millions of women and girls the autonomy to make decisions about their reproductive health.
Mr Oji stated that despite the progress made on FP in the country, the Modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (MCPR) marginally increased to 15 per cent, from 12 per cent, with unmet needs at 21 per cent.
"High fertility rates, coupled with low FP uptake, contribute to poor maternal and child health outcomes and exacerbate rapid population growth. These challenges demand renewed urgency, innovation, and collaboration to achieve the FP2030 targets," he said.
Family Planning conference
Mr Oji emphasised that this year's conference comes at an important moment as the Coordinating Minister of Health and Social Welfare, Muhammad Pate, champions the Sector-Wide Approach (SWAp) agenda, a unified platform designed to streamline health programmes, strengthen accountability, and achieve transformative results.
He said it is important to embrace this opportunity to align efforts, inspire innovation, and renew commitments to FP as a key driver of sustainable development in Nigeria.
Speaking on the progress of FP in Nigeria, the Co-Principal Investigator, Performance Monitoring for Action, Funmilola Olaolorun, said for the country to meet the FP2030 target, the MCPR must increase by two per cent yearly.
Ms Olaolorun said, "Business as usual will not get us there. At the current pace, it would take five years to achieve a two-percentage point increase."
She, however, said with proper funding, motivation and dedication, the country can exceed the FP2030 target.
A Director at the Reproductive Health Department at the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, Samuel Oyeniyi, noted that though Nigeria is on track to meeting the FP2030 target, the progress is slow.
Mr Oyeniyi said the country needs better integration of FP into healthcare services.
"If we scale up our efforts and maximise available resources, we will meet the target," he said.
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FP 2030 target
The FP2030 is a global partnership supporting women's and girls' reproductive rights. It aims to empower women and girls to lead healthy lives and make informed choices about contraceptive use.
It also aims to hasten the process of addressing obstacles that delay the advancement of commitments made by governments towards FP, by strengthening result-oriented partnerships with stakeholders and experts.
The target is to achieve universal access to sexual and reproductive healthcare services including for family planning by 2030, as stipulated in the third and fifth Sustainable Development Goals.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, had missed the initial FP target set for 2020, partly due to the government's failure to fund the programme, thereby hindering progress. FP 2020 goal was to enable 120 million additional women and girls of reproductive age, globally, to have access to contraceptives by the year 2020.
At the dawn of the deadline, the FP 2020 target indicators show that Nigeria has only 12 per cent MCPR for women.
