Economic hardship fueling demand for family planning- Physicians

Family Planning Providers in Osun have said that more couples, both old and young were embracing family planning methods in the state due to economic hardship.

Some of the providers who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria in primary health care facilities in Olorunda Local Government area of the state on Thursday also attributed the increase to the level of awareness created.

They said that there had been an increase in the number of couples coming for family planning methods in the area since the beginning of the year.

A family planning provider in Enikan-Oyun Primary Health Centre, Adejoke Yusuf, said that the facility was attending to between 24 and 40 clients for family planning purposes in a month, unlike last year, which was between 10 and 15.

Yusuf said that the facility had provided family planning methods for over 350 couples this year.

“The rate at which people are coming for the family planning methods is unexpected.

“The influx was as a result of economic hardship and outreach awareness on the benefits of family planning,” she said.

Yusuf, however, said that family planning does not have any negative effects but rather its benefits are enormous.

She said that family planning methods allowed couples to space their children and also plan for their future.

Similarly, another provider in Atelewo Primary Health Centre, Aishat Olopade, said that there had been a noticeable increase in the number of couples coming for family planning in the facility.

Olopade said that the facility provided family planning methods for between 30 and 35 couples in a month, unlike the previous year, which was usually between 20 to 25.

She said that the facility had provided family planning methods for more than 300 clients in the last 10 months.

Olopade said that the current economic hardship and awareness creation of the benefits of family planning were responsible for the increase in its uptake.

She said that family planning methods were safe and without any side effects.

Olopade encouraged couples who were yet to embrace the methods to do so for the benefit of their health and family.

One of the clients, Yemisi Adediwura, said she had been on the family planning method for the past eight years without any negative effects.

Adediwura said that since taking up the family planning method, she had been able to space her children and also plan adequately for them.

She encouraged those who were yet to do it to embrace it, adding that it has no negative effects.

According to the 2006 Census, the population of the Olorunda Local Government area is 131,761.

NAN