The US Agency for International Development (USAID) in collaboration with Shops Plus Project, at the weekend, presented awards to family planning champions and certificates to family planning service providers in the FCT.
Musa Abdurraheem, Ag. Secretary, FCT Health and Human Services Secretariat, who represented the FCT Administration at the event, harped on the advantages of family planning and said those who failed to plan, plan to fail.
He said the family planning champions honoured included 13 service providers, six community leaders, and three area councils – Kuje, Gwgwalada and Abaji.
Abdurraheem said: “Every year we budget for it, we advise parents to embrace family planning especially when they know how difficult it is to raise more children than they can cope with.”
USAID Senior Rep Health Manager, Dr Gertrude Odezugo, at the event, said family planning reduced maternal mortality by 30%, and that 575 of every 1000 maternal deaths in Nigeria were due to lack of access to family planning.
She said USAID recently launched a new flagship health activity that will help five states in Nigeria improve access to primary health care services, essential commodities, and increase demand for services.
