Ekiti govt partners health organisation on family planning services

The Ekiti State Government and Jhpiego Nigeria have called for sustained efforts to integrate hormonal intrauterine devices (H-IUDs) into routine family planning services beyond the lifespan of an ongoing intervention aimed at improving access to contraceptives.

The call was made on Friday in Ado-Ekiti at a high-level dissemination meeting on H-IUD scale-up activities organised by the Ekiti State Ministry of Health and Human Services in collaboration with Jhpiego Nigeria.

The meeting reviewed the project’s achievements, challenges and lessons, with stakeholders participating in two panel sessions to discuss strategies for sustaining and improving the intervention.

Speaking at the event, the Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Health and Human Services, Mrs Olusola Gbenga-Igotun, said the intervention had improved access to family planning, expressing hope that the state would sustain the gains after the project ends.

She said: “The support from Jhpiego has been very good, and it has changed the face of family planning.”

Gbenga-Igotun clarified that the project was not ending on the day of the meeting but was expected to wind down before the end of the year.

She said the involvement of traditional rulers and men in sensitisation activities had helped improve acceptance, adding that husbands served as advocates within their households.

“When we were doing the sensitisation, we involved the traditional leaders. Apart from that, we took a different turn; we involved the men and the husbands. They were like our mouthpieces at home,” she said.

The Permanent Secretary urged health workers to provide women with adequate information about available family planning options, stressing that they should be allowed to make informed choices.

“We can’t force anything on the women because this is not the only family planning tool that we have,” she said.

The Project Director of the H-IUD project at Jhpiego Nigeria, Hajia Hannatu Abdullahi, said the meeting provided an opportunity to assess the intervention and develop strategies for sustaining its achievements.

She said: “We will be reviewing our achievements, our challenges, our successes and the lessons, and we hope to develop an action plan that will help us to integrate and sustain H-IUD as one of the components of family planning, not just a standalone commodity.”

Abdullahi commended the state government for its commitment to the project, noting that the support received had encouraged the organisation to seek further opportunities to continue the intervention.

She expressed hope that a new application would be successful and help strengthen the transition to sustainable family planning services.

The State Lead of Jhpiego in Ekiti, Dr Muraina Olotu, said the project was introduced to address the low uptake of long-acting reversible contraceptives and improve women’s access to family planning services.

Olotu said the intervention, which commenced in December 2025 as a one-year project, focused on training healthcare workers to acquire the skills required to administer H-IUDs.

He said sustaining the programme would require continued government support, trained personnel and the availability of commodities and equipment at health facilities.

“Sustainability simply means that the state has innovations and processes put in place, right from the healthcare facilities to the local government levels, to take up these programmes,” he said.

Olotu identified private-sector participation, support from philanthropists and contributions from traditional rulers as additional ways to sustain the intervention.

He commended the state government for supporting facility renovations, training healthcare providers and distributing equipment, adding that continued mentoring and coaching would help maintain the skills of frontline health workers.

The State Family Planning Desk Officer, Mrs Bukola Abosede, said acceptance of the method was initially low because of misconceptions about family planning and concerns about the procedure required to insert the device.

She said health workers responded by intensifying counselling and dispelling rumours about the method.

Abosede disclosed that Ekiti recorded one acceptor in January, 14 in February and more than 60 in March, before a shortage of commodities affected uptake in April.

She said the number subsequently rose to 614 acceptors across the state.

“From January to now, we have 614 acceptors from Ekiti State, and I think that is a good improvement,” she said.

Abosede urged women interested in the method to visit health facilities with trained personnel for counselling and appropriate services.

She said the H-IUD had contraceptive and other potential health benefits, including helping to manage certain menstrual problems, while advising women to seek professional guidance on its suitability.

ALSO READ: Aro Neuropsychiatric Hospital nurses issue 21-day ultimatum to management

The Onise of Odo-Oro Ekiti, Oba Babatunde Jemileyin, called for more community sensitisation to address cultural and religious concerns surrounding family planning.

He said traditional rulers had a responsibility to educate residents about the benefits of the programme and encourage wider acceptance among different groups in their communities.

“As community leaders, it is our role to persuade them and let them know the benefits of this particular programme so that acceptance can be widespread,” the monarch said.

The event also featured an award presentation to the immediate past Commissioner for Health and Human Services, Dr Oyebanji Filani; Permanent Secretary, Gbenga-Igotun; Family Planning Desk Officer, Abosede; and other stakeholders in recognition of their contributions to the project.