Source: National Mirror
Despite increasing global campaigns to drastically reduce maternal deaths or even eliminate them, Nigeria still loses 111 of its women to pregnancy-related complications daily, a group working on 4th Family Planning Conference in Nigeria, said yesterday.

It is a figure the country has maintained for 10 years, making it retain its position as the largest contributor to global maternal deaths, the group said.

Chairman, Local Organising Committee of the conference, Dr. Ejike Oji, who addressed newsmen on behalf of the group, said countries across the globe had been able to reduce such deaths with the adoption of family planning.

He said while the global community celebrates increase in family planning uptake, with resultant effects on healthier mothers and families, Nigeria and other few developing countries had been far too behind in adopting the programme.

Oji accused the Federal Government of allegedly reneging on its pledged to make $11 million available yearly for procurement of family planning products in the country, as basic requirement to making them available for all, as desired by the government.

He said since 2011 that the Federal Government had pledged to make the programme free by making funds available for procuring its products, only $3 million had been released by the government.

Oji argued that family planning had been recognised worldwide as one of the programmes that guarantee safe motherhood.

He said the country’s current maternal mortality ratio stands at 576 deaths out of every 100,000 live births.

“This translates to about 40,000 women dying every year; 111 dying every day, or five people dying every hour,” he said.

“Family planning has been universally recognised as one of the key pillars and most cost effective means of achieving safe motherhood. Countries like Rwanda in Africa have made significant progress in decreasing fertility and mortality over the last decade by increasing investment in the health system, which has led to rapid improvement in modern contraceptive use.

“A woman’s ability to space and limit her pregnancies has a direct impact on her health and wellbeing as well as on the outcome of each pregnancy,” he added, as he urged all couples of child-bearing ages in the country to adopt any family programme of their choice.

Meanwhile, an official the Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health, NURHI, Charity Ibeawuchi, said making family planning free for users was being hampered by government’s failure to make funds it promised available.

By Marcus Fatunmole and Ajibola Winner

• Africa
• Nigeria