By Oginyi Nkechinyere
A developmental partner, Marie Stope Nigeria, has donated assorted Family Planning (FP) and child birth spacing equipment to Health Centres in Ebonyi State.
Speaking during the donation in Abakaliki, South-East Regional Manager for Marie Stope Nigeria, Mr. Samuel Ibekwe, said the gesture was to improve on service delivery to clients while IEC materials which were also donated would help to create awareness.
Ibekwe said 40 nurses have been trained to provide FP services in the state and from April 7-14, more health workers will be trained to join the already trained 40 nurses.
He further explained that 50 health centres are being supported by Marie Stope in the state and the donated FP equipments was made for their use.
The MSN chief appealed to the state government to save the lives of mothers by improving on the family planning services and assured that Ebonyi will receive more succour from Marie Stope as long as their sponsor provides all they require.
Ibekwe called on Ebonyi women to always remember that green Dot logo is family planning logo and should access the service from anywhere they see the logo.
In a remark, the State Commissioner for Health, Dr. Daniel Umezurike noted that family planning is a very important project that Nigerian government should take serious for better future of the country.
Dr. Umezurike represented by the Executive Secretary Primary Health Development Agency Dr. Nwali Okata James, pointed out that FP is a very critical issue that requires the collaboration and contribution from different levels of government and individuals to get it right.
“If we are talking about getting Nigeria to develop infrastructures, industrially, the issue of FP should be handled with every amount of seriousness it deserves because if we have effective family planning policy, we will be able to meet the needs of the people.
The commissioner lamented that some parents, especially in the northern part of the country, give birth to many children without making adequate plan for the education, health care delivery and other amenities that human beings require to survive.
He called for more sensitization and Advocacy on FP so that people will imbibe with the policy.
Director of Family Planning, State Ministry of Heath, Chief Mrs. Maria Orji, thanked Marie Stope for training community health extension workers to help reach out to the integral parts of the state and assured them that the Ministry will continue to work hard to provide quality FP services to Ebonyi women as the state is working to increase the number of trained health workers on family planning / child birth spacing.
Some of the health workers from unagboke health centre and Iboko health centre, Mrs. Christi Kalu and Eze Oluchi, thanked Marie Stope for bringing the equipment as they will reduce maternal mortality rate in the state, pointing out that it is an opportunity long expected and it will boost their services to the women who want to access family planning services in the state.
