By: Joy Odor/Kaduna
Kafanchan Local Government Area in Southern part of Kaduna State has witness rapid reduction of maternal and infant mortality and complications because couples all over the communities embrace the use of child spacing method.
These improvements were recorded since the coming on board of Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI) with the introduction of 72 Hours Clinic Make-Over Intervention who has been in the vanguard of championing the elimination of supply and demand barriers to contraceptive use and make Family Planning or Child Birth Spacing a social norm in Nigeria especially in the northern part of Nigeria.
Kaduna Health-Based Journalists made the discovery during a health facility tour to Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa Memorial Hospital, Kafanchan, Kaduna North-West, Nigeria to attesting to NURHI’s intervention.
Addressing Health reporters in his office, the Medical Director of Sir Patrick Ibrahim Yakowa Memorial Hospital, Kafanchan, Dr. Gajere Jonathan said the intervention came at a time when the facility was facing serious challenges in meeting the demands of clients who come for FP services.
He confessed that the NURHI intervention has impacted positively on the healthcare service delivery which has corroborated government efforts in reducing maternal and child mortality in the State.
The Medical Direction also informed that the clinic make-over has increase in patronage as the number of clients who visits the unit drastically increased from less than 60 to over 200 monthly from the Family Planning Monitoring chart for update of service, saying couples are showing more interest in receiving child spacing methods of difference kind without misconception compared before the NURHI intervention.
“We are happy with the 72-Hour Clinic makeover and it has impacted positively on our healthcare service delivery and corroborated government efforts in reducing maternal and child mortality in the State. We are glad and we hope that the needed fund will be make available so that this cost-effective and speedy way of rehabilitating facilities will be replicated by the State government” he stressed.
“I commended the initiative of NURHI, for equipping the family planning office with all the necessary materials needed. “The coming of NURHI to the hospital has further enhanced our service delivery especially with special attention to women in child spacing. NURHI furnished the office given to them and all the necessary consumables required for full take”.
“I was happy what NURHI did within 72 hrs and delivered everything and left. We have been enjoying what they gave us. Those that were making the money available for this projects, we pray that God will increase their able not only our facility but to other facility they have expanded to benefit the good work they are doing.
“You can see for yourselves that a unique place was chosen for the family planning so that women will not be distracted but to ensure they have a free and conducive environment that will take care of their needs,” he explained” he said.
Our tour investigation also shows that the demand for the consumables has led to the insufficient and outgrown of the supply as the State government is yet to start contributing its own share.
However, the Health Reporters was of the opinion that this can be more effective in Kaduna state if the Drugs Supply and Management Agency (DSMA) would scale-up the purchase of the child spacing consumables and consumables since the fund for budget-line of family planning has been released by the State Government for such propose, to meet up with the high demand in various hospitals and primary health care centers.
Contributing, the family planning provider at the Memorial Hospital, Mrs. Ginatu Kure assured that the center has enough facilities to accommodate any complain from any woman as regards child spacing.
She explained that even before the coming of NURHI to the hospital, couples have embraced child spacing, pointing out that since November last year when NURHI provided all the necessary facilities to the hospital, there has been a colossal upsurges in the number of women that come to the hospital on a daily basis for all types of in child spacing implants.
