World Contraception Day: NGOs team up with Lagos govt. to sensitise residents

Some non-government organisations (NGOs), on Wednesday, collaborated with Lagos Government to sensitise residents of Mushin area of Lagos on the importance of family planning. The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the NGOs included: Family Planning Providers Network (FPPN), The Challenge Initiative (TCI), Society for Family Health (SFH) and IntegratE. Speaking on the sidelines of the event, the Focal Person for FPPN, Mushin cluster, Mrs Stella Yakubu, said that they decided to commemorate the 2023 World Contraception Day by sensitising people on family planning. According to Yakubu, it is imperative for people, especially youths, to be enlightened about child spacing, as some of them usually engaged in unprotected sex, resulting in unwanted pregnancy and, in some cases, abortion, which could jeopardise their lives. She said that their targets were youths, teenagers (between the ages of 15 and 17) and young, unmarried but sexually-active adults. She acknowledged support from government in terms of provision of some materials, including condoms which, she said, were distributed free to the public. Speaking at the occasion, a community leader, Chief Akanbi Komolafe, advised the public to practise safe sex by using contraceptives in order to avoid contracting HIV/AIDS and other sexually-transmitted diseases. Komolafe, who represented the Chairman of Mushin Local Government, Mr Joseph Ogunmola, said it was good for people to reproduce, adding, however, that the reproduction rate should be limited. The Managing Director of Ovansa Nursing and Maternity Home, Mr Salawu Ovansa, urged married couples to adopt child spacing in their child-bearing plan and that youths should practise safe sex by using contraceptives. According to Ovansa, partners who indulged in unprotected sex stand the higher risk of contracting sexually-transmitted diseases. A resident, Mr Sampson Odekunle, commended the organisers for sensitising the public on the need for use of contraceptives as a means of protection against sexually-transmitted diseases.