The Project Director for Hormonal Inter Uterine Device, Hajia Alhannatu Abdullahi has said that about 168 PHCs have been equipped to increase the availability of contraceptive methods.
She stated this during the final dissemination meeting of their activities to the Stakeholders in the Ondo State health sector at Blissworld Hotel Akure.
She stated that the introduction and scale-up of the project followed the development of a national introduction and scale-up strategy plan for hormonal IUD by the Federal Government, noting that the government requested partners’ support.
She expressed appreciation to the State Health Ministry for providing leadership and an enabling environment to implement the project, assuring the State of Jhpiego’s readiness to implement more programmes.
The Commissioner for Health, Dr Banji Awolowo Ajaka while giving his address commended JHPIEGO for implementing the Hormonal IUD project in the State, while saying the Government would ensure its sustainability due to the importance of family planning to the residents of the Sunshine State.
He explained that to sustain the utilisation of the contraceptive in the State, people must be encouraged to embrace it through demand creation while calling on everyone to ensure that the project becomes integrated into the system, urging them to capitalise on its gains.
He noted that the project has helped reduce maternal mortality, improve family well-being, and enhance the State’s health indices.
Ajaka, who was represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Adeniran Ikuomola, urged everyone to embrace family planning.
In his welcome address, the representative of the Permanent Secretary, Ondo State Primary Health Care Development Agency (OSPHCDA), and Director of Medical Services, Dr Paulinus Omode, assured that the State would adopt some of the practices and lessons gained from the project to strengthen reproductive services in the State.
While noting that the introduction of Hormonal IUD has added value to family planning services, he assured of its availability, stating that the Government is putting measures in place to achieve this.
In their goodwill messages, other Partners, including Marie Stopes and the Clinton Health Initiative, assured continued support for quality services in the State.
In a presentation by Winifred Imoyera of Jhpiego and Opeyemi Agunbiade of OSPHCDA noted that the project was scaled up to 168 PHCs to increase the availability of contraceptive methods.
They also stated that the State now has competent HormonaloIUD providers in various health facilities while revealing that the project has improved service delivery in the state through targeted training, supportive supervision, supply chain enhancement, and community mobilisation, adding that it addressed critical barriers to contraceptive access, among other issues.
Some of the beneficiary of the device noted that it was very comfortable and easy to use and the Hormonal IUD did not make them gain weight like other family planning methods while enjoying their sexual life.