Expert Wants Religious Leaders’Involvement In Family Planning Sensitisation

In order to ensure that family planning services are effectively accessed towards reducing maternal and neonatal deaths in the society, an expert in family planning, Dr Musa Abdullahi Suff, says the involvement of religious leaders is very important.
This, according to him, is because, religious leaders in various faiths constitute a link to vital population of the society.
“Religious leaders are involved because they are key in terms of people who have access to majority of population, no matter the level”, he said.
Dr Suff, who is the state programme coordinator of The Challenge Initiative (TCI), Kano State, said such levels of the population include those in government, business, the poor or rich, and other affiliates of religion attached to religious leaders.
He noted that many people behave in whatever their religious leaders say at all times, even to the point of deeming the words of such leaders to have come from God.
Consequently, “since the population of Nigeria is very religious, religious leaders need to understand the benefits of family planning, so when they speak in favour of it, many people will believe them and trust in it”.
“Even those who currently are unable to make up their minds to up take the family planning services, once their religious leaders assure support, they can endorse it and the people can easily go to access it because they understand it better.
Suff, who stated this during a recent 3-day capacity building programme on family planning for religious leaders in Port Harcourt, further emphasized on the importance of religious leaders in advocating for people to access family planning services.
Also speaking, the chairman, Interfaith sub-committee of the Rivers State Advocacy working Group on Family Planning, Rev. Nathaniel Luke, said the essence of the training programme is for them, as religious leaders, to step down the training and pass on relevant information to their congregation.
“As they (congregation) take up this services, it is going to reduce maternal mortality and child birth related deaths”, he said .
On her part, the Family Planning Coordinator, Rivers State Ministry of Health (RMOH), Doris Igbanibo, noted that in addition to reducing maternal infant mortality, family planning also helps to prevent sexually transmitted infections including HIV/AIDS.
In her presentation titled “Family planning, methods, choices and benefits”, she also noted that family planning prevents pregnancy related health risks in women.
Other benefits, according to her include empowering people and enhancing education, reducing adolescent pregnancies and slowing down of population growth.

By: Sogbeba Dokubo