Maternal Mortality:Ipas Prescribes Contraceptives

Ipas, an International NGO, aimed at protecting and advancing the reproductive rights of women, has called for adequate use of contraceptives to control fertility.

The Country Director of Ipas, Dr Ejike Oji, made the call in Enugu on Tuesday during a review of the performance of reproductive health journalists in the South East.

Oji maintained that the use of contraceptives would reduce the growing population of Nigeria, adding that it was a better way to increase the county’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

“Nigeria is growing at a 3.2 per cent annual population growth rate. By 2025, we will be 280 million. It is not tenable, not sustainable.

“We are already having internal strives, there is massive unemployment and these are signs of demographic crisis.

“At independence, we were just 56 million. So what has happened in 50 years is that we have added 110 million people.

“We must elevate contraception to the highest level, women should be allowed to choose when to get pregnant, how to space their children.’’

Oji said the organisation had spent over 600,000 dollars in training 410 journalists, to adequately inform and sensitise women in the rural areas on their rights to reproductive health in order to reduce maternal mortality.

The chairman of the occasion, Mr Vincent Okwor, called on men to assist in protecting the rights of women, to enable the country achieve the MDGs by 2015.

Meanwhile, different women organisations, including the Nigerian Association of Women Journalists, the Post Abortion Care Network, Network of Bar, Bench and Police, were represented at the performance review meeting.