Gambo Jagindi 
Dr Aminu Magashi
By Rachael Abujah
February 25, 2020
88% of married women in Nigeria do not use contraceptives,- Dr Magashi
Dr Aminu Magashi, Coordinator, Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN) has said that 88 percent of married women in the country do not use contraceptives.
Magashi, who is also Board Member, Partnership for Maternal, Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH), said this on Tuesday in Abuja, during a review of the Fertility and Family Planning component of the 2018 Nigeria Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reports that former Minister of Health, Prof. Isaac Adewole wrote to the Secretary-General, United Nations, Authonio Gutherres, affirmed that ‘’Nigeria is committed to fast track it’s work with local and international NGOs, CSOs, CBOs & Government Agencies to address social cultural barriers and limitations to family planning services in Nigeria.’’
There was also a commitments made by Nigeria at the London FP2020 summit in July, 2017, towards enhancing the efforts at improving the lives of women, adolescents and children not only in Nigeria but in the rest of the developing world.
“Nigeria has made commitments under FP2020, aiming to reach a Modern Contraceptives Preventative Rate (MCPR), of 27 percent by 2030.
Magashi also spoke on the National Family Planning Blueprint which he described as clog in the will to achieving the National Family Planning goals.
“ The Family Planning Blueprint contains a vague commodity supply strategy, though the implementation of these policies is mostly conducted at the state level.
He advised the media and CSOs to hold governments at all levels accountable.
‘’There is the need for relevant agencies to raise awareness to ensure that the government increased allocation for purchase of Family Planning commodities and implementation of policies that will ensure their uptake.
Magashi explained that the implications of not catering for reproductive health, ranged from economic to security challenges in the country.
He noted that reproductive health decreases along the line of decreasing educational level, which means that less educated individuals are less likely to seek family planning services.
He also quoted the NDHS Report which reveals that in Nigeria, the total demand for family planning among married women was 36 per cent, while 19 per cent of married women have an unmet need for family planning.
It pegs contraceptive prevalence rate in Nigeria at 17 per cent for married women of 15-49 age bracket.
According to the report, 12 percent of married women use modern methods while five percent use traditional methods of contraception.
“The use of any family planning method by married women had increased from six per cent in 1990.
‘’Fertility decrease with increasing education and wealth.
The Total Fertility Rate (TFR) is highest in the North West (6.6 children per woman) and lowest in South (3.9 children per woman),” Magashi explained.
NAN Reports that the 2018 NDHS is the sixth Demographic Health Survey in Nigeria since 1990.
A nationally representative sample of 40,427 households were interviewed for the survey. (NAN)
