Experts lament men’s low knowledge on contraception use

By Omolara Akintoye

Health experts have warned of low knowledge of men on contraception decision making as this is affecting their wives’ decision on the best family planning method to use.

Speaking at the just concluded 5-day Online Training Workshop for Feature Writers and health reporters in Nigeria, tagged : How Family Planning Contributes to Prevention of Unnecessary deaths of Women and Babies and slow Population Growth”, a Professor of Obstetrics and Gynecology, Ahmadu Bello University Teaching Hospital, (ABUTH) Zaria, Professor Oladapo Shittu who spoke on ‘Strategies for Improving Family Planning Uptake’ pointed out that most married women  lack good understanding of scientific contraception usage. His words “Married women use condoms most while the Long Acting Reversible Contraceptives (LARC) have low usage. There is therefore need to educate our women to understand their body systems so that they can make use of the most effective contraceptives”.

Prof. Shittu urged govt. to invest more in male involvement in contraception decision making because they also have less knowledge of the usage.

“When men are knowledgeable, they can influence the very effective family planning methods for themselves and their wives and this will also transmit to more family planning users” said Prof. Shittu.

READ ALSO: Are condoms cheaper than diapers?

On his part, the Director, Reproductive Health, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Kayode Afolabi said that govt. has embarked on Task Shifting andTask sharing policy on Family Planning, among other health issues and the main goal is to get the right health workers with the right skills to do the job.

“So far, 22 states have adopted the policy, while 29 states are in the process of Cost Implementation Plans, and the Ministry has trained over 5,000 Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWs) and Community Health Officers (CHOs) in 36 states and FCT.

Also speaking, the National Co-ordinator, Reproductive Maternal and Child Health, Professor Emmanuel Lufadeju who spoke on the ‘Institutionalisation of MPDSR Implementation in Nigeria’ revealed that Rotary International has initiated a meeting attended by the Federal Ministry of Health and other stakeholders to propose legislation on Maternal Perinatal Death Surveillance and Response (MPDSR) at the National Assembly last year.