The Ogun State Government has signified its readiness to create more awareness through the media on the benefits of family planning and childbirth spacing in order to reduce maternal mortality rate in the state.
Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Hon. Remmy Hazzan stated this while receiving a team from Family Health Initiative Ogun (FAHIO), a Non-Governmental advocacy working group at his Office in Oke-Mosan, Abeokuta.
Affirming the importance of family planning, the Special Adviser said effective information dissemination and enlightenment on health matters would promote healthy living and well-being of the people, noting that a well-planned family would reflect positively on the economic growth of the nation and the society at large.
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He said he would engage all means of communication within his reach to propagate the message of family planning, adding that he would not hesitate to involve crucial offices and agencies of government for the desired results.
“Kindly count on my office on the dissemination of information of family planning messages through appropriate channels of communication, as I also wish to involve office of the Wife of the Governor, Commissioner for Health and other relevant ones to achieve desired results”, Hazzan emphasised
He called on all stakeholders to join hands with the FAHIO in its advocacy drive to enhance the health system of the State, in line with the present administration’s mantra of “Building Our Future Together’’.
Hazzan, who noted that the organisation should deploy strategies of reaching more to the grassroots through Community Development Associations (CDAs), opinion and religious leaders, said once they key into the process, they would in turn pass it to their members.
“To get the real people that need the message most, you will also need to get to the grassroots through relevant agencies of government, such as the Ministry of Community Development and Cooperatives (CD&Cs), among others”, the Special Adviser said.
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Hon. Hazzan was of the opinion that the State would work towards achieving zero level on maternal mortality rate, saying “there is nothing wrong in having something close to zero maternal mortality rate”, while advising that people should desist from patronising quack, rather, they should always visit public health facilities which have qualified health personnel.
“As a State, before a year in office, our administration would have covered at least 50 percent of health care needs at primary health care centres, with befitting primary health facilities in all our wards and this will greatly enhance efficient health care service delivery, as well as preventing deaths of women and children caused as a result of pregnancy related complications”, he said.
Earlier, the Chairperson of the Family Health Initiative, Ogun, Mrs. Kemi Balogun, represented by a member of the organisation, Mr. Adesina Adesegun, said that the target of the advocacy group was to reduce maternal mortality to the lowest rate through the provision of effective family planning services.
Balogun pleaded with government and policy makers to intensify efforts on the promotion and support of family planning programmes for increased contraceptive uptake and access to quality services.
She stated that engagement of media in informing, educating and enlightening the public through production, publishing and reportage would widen people’s knowledge on issues relating to family planning and childbirth spacing.