Itire Ijesha PHC to improve services with new Family Planning Clinic

A new Family Planning (FP) Clinic has been installed by the Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI) 2 at Itire-Ijesha Primary Health Centre, Mushin, Lagos to improve health services.

Newsverge reports that NURHI is funded by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation to improve reproductive health, especially family planning.

The family planning unit at Itire Ijesha PHC is one of the 50 selected PHCs and hospitals in Lagos State under the NURHI 2 “72-hour Family Planning Clinic Make-Over’’ project.

Dr Duduyemi Adeola, a family planning expert with the NURHI, told Newsverge in Lagos that family planning was an important intervention strategy to avert maternal death.

“It is established that there is high rate of maternal mortality in the country and all efforts are geared toward reducing it.

“Family planning is one of the most effective ways to prevent maternal, infant and child mortality.

“It reduces maternal mortality by reducing the number of unintended pregnancies, the number of abortions and the proportion of high risk births,’’ she said.

“Increasing access to family planning among women and men of reproductive age in Lagos State and in Nigeria as a whole will help to achieve this.

“Our target is to achieve 74 per cent contraceptive prevalence (CP) use by 2018.’’

She said: “Mushin is one of the areas in Lagos identified as being highly populated, especially with people of reproductive age who are equally sexually active.

“So, with family planning in place, pregnancies can be prevented in the first instance and quality of life will also improve for the mother, husband, children, family and nation as a whole’’.

The Itire Ijesha PHC serves the Itire community, situate at the boundary between Mushin Local Government Area and Itire-Ikate Local Government, as such, people from both LGAs access it.

“What we have done is to convert an area of the centre to be a family planning unit; we now have a place for counselling and family planning procedure.

“All these were done within 72 hours, from a Friday to a Monday; we have also repainted the waiting hall as well as provided some consumables.

“We urge the people of the area to access the facility and seek family planning counsel; it will go a long way to improve the quality of their life.

“We also appeal to the government to maintain the place and continue to put it to good use for the benefit of the people,’’ she said.

Contributing, Olayinka Kazeem, the Sole Administrator of Mushin LGA, commended NURHI for the gesture.

He said that there would be programmes to mobilise the residents of the area to use the facility and access family planning care.

He advised men to embrace family planning as it was good for the entire society and not just women.

Mrs Santos Omosola, the officer in charge and an Assistant Chief Nursing Officer at Itire Ijesha PHC, said that Thursdays and Fridays were antenatal and family planning service days.

“We used to be overwhelmed because people are many, the environment was not conducive and we were usually short of consumables.

“With this makeover, we will deliver improved services to people that require it,’’ she said.