… Train 12,852 women to self-inject
No fewer that 12,852 women of childbearing age have been trained in Ondo State to assume control over their sexual and reproductive health by adopting the contraceptive self-care method of family planning.
The women as well as health workers in the state were trained through the collaboration of the Ondo State Ministry of Health with the Society for Family Health (SFH) under a project tagged Delivering Innovation in Self-Care (DISC), which lasted for 22 months.
During the dissemination of the state’s FP/DMPA performance DISC project in Akure, the state capital, the Social and Behavioural Change Coordinator for the Society for Family Health, Mr. Titus Michael, disclosed that the DISC project was a five-year sexual and reproductive health programme implemented by Population Service International and the Society for Family Health, Nigeria.
According to Michael, the self-care approach was designed to revolutionise family planning practices by equipping women with the knowledge and skills to administer contraceptive injections independently.
He said: “This project is looking towards ensuring that we have an upscale in self-care in the country. The DISC project was implemented in five LGAs of the 18 local government areas of the state, namely Ile-Oluji, Akure South, Owo, Ondo West, and Akure North.
“The project commenced in Ondo State in December 2022 and terminated in the first quarter of 2024, and it was able to reach about 44,672 women in the 18 local government areas, and about 28,708 were referred for family planning.
“The programme has trained 45 facilities, 72 providers of service delivery, 18 M&E officers on family planning data reporting, and 20 community mobilizers.
On his part, the Commissioner for Health in the state, Dr. Banji Ajaka, assured that the state government would continue to provide family planning commodities to women between the childbearing age and the age of 18 and the age of 18 across the 18 local council areas of the state as part of its recommendations in the subsequent budget in the state.
Ajaka, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Dr. Adeniran Ikuomola, appreciated the Society for Family Health for their contribution to the health indices of the state.
He said: “The state government will do everything to ensure the success of this project. The dissemination of the report of the DISC project will encourage us to adopt it in the state because of the usefulness and positive effects that it is going to have on our family planning services in the state.
“The commodities will be made available in the state, and we expect maximum cooperation from the partners in supporting us to succeed too. The government will do everything possible to make all of us comfortable within the system.
The Family Planning Coordinator in the Ondo State Primary Healthcare Development Agency (OSPHCDA), Mrs. Opeyemi Agunbiade, noted that there has been about 600 percent growth in the self-injection rate in Ondo State, while reiterating that over 60 of every 100 women who opt for DMPA-SC as their method of choice are self-injecting successfully under the supervision of their health providers or at home.
Agunbiade explained further that DMPA-SC uptake grew by 60 per cent from 750 visits in July 2022 to 1,232 visits in January 2024, and the self-injection rate also grew from 8 percent to over 60 percent in Q4. 2023.
