Family Planning: FMoH pledges continued engagement with interfaith leaders Engagement
The Federal Ministry of Health (FMoH) says it will continue to engage with interfaith community leaders to promote Family Planning (FP) in the country.
Dr Salma Annas-Kolo, Director, Family Health Department, Federal Ministry of Health, made the pledge in Abuja at the virtual Interfaith Conference of the 6th Nigeria Family Planning Conference.
Annas-Kolo, represented by Mrs Ladidi Bako-Aiyegbasi, Director, Health Promotion in the Ministry said that the engagement of religious leaders as advocates had contributed to the current increase in the utilisation of family planning services in Nigeria.
“The engagement of religious leaders as advocates to champion social change, targeting increase in use of family planning services, has contributed to the current increase of family planning services in Nigeria.
“To ensure standardisation of key family planning messages disseminated to the congregation by religious leaders, advocacy handbook and sermon notes were produced and launched in 2014.”
These are “the Islamic Perspectives on Reproductive Health and the Christian Perspectives of FP/RH in Nigeria in 2016”.
Annas-Kolo described the interfaith community as very important component in the advancement of family planning and child spacing considering Nigeria’s brazen disposition to religious norms.
She, therefore, expressed her confidence in the ability of religious leaders to educate communities about family planning, healthy timing and spacing of pregnancy.
Also, Mr Murtala Abdulrahman of the Nigeria Interfaith Action Association identified advocacy as key to driving the message of family planning.
Abdulrahman, who reiterated the need for sensitisation, said that it must be done within the confines of acceptable religious doctrines.
According to him, Islam approves of child spacing even before the advent of science because it allows a woman to rest in a space of at least two years.
Dr Nathaniel Adewale of the Anglican Communion said that the religious leaders had immense opportunity of propagating the message of family planning.
Adewale affirmed the christian approval of child spacing for not just the health of the mother but economic development and security. (NAN)
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