The Lagos State Government, through Health District III, has reaffirmed its commitment to improving family planning uptake and ensuring that residents, particularly those in hard-to-reach communities, have access to quality reproductive health services.
Speaking in her Ikoyi office during a courtesy visit by a team from The Challenge Initiative (TCI) on a three-year project funded by the Gates Foundation, the Permanent Secretary, Health District III, Dr. Monsurat Adeleke, appreciated the team for the initiative.
According to a statement obtained on Thursday, Dr Adeleke said the initiative aligns with the state’s commitment to global best practices in family planning and that the District regularly conducts family planning outreaches to bring essential services closer to residents.
According to her, the District places strong emphasis on reaching riverine and other hard-to-reach communities, where poor health-seeking behaviour and geographical barriers may limit access to healthcare services.
It was noted that such outreaches also provide opportunities for residents to receive appropriate information, counselling and family planning services without having to travel long distances.
Dr. Adeleke expressed optimism that the partnership would further strengthen the District’s family planning programmes and improve access to services across Eti-Osa, Ibeju-Lekki and Epe. She assured the team of the District’s support and collaboration, stressing that sustained advocacy, community engagement and accessible services remain critical to achieving better family health outcomes across Lagos State.
Earlier, the Country Director of The Challenge Initiative, Dr. Taiwo Johnson, said the three-year grant project was designed to increase family planning uptake by taking services directly to the doorsteps of community members stressing that the initiative would provide family planning commodities such as oral contraceptive pills and injectables, during community outreaches, while ensuring that the commodities are also available at health facilities for continued access after the outreaches.
Dr. Johnson further disclosed that the initiative would strengthen the capacity of Community Health Officers (CHOs) through specialised training on family planning counselling, health education and initiating meaningful discussions with community members on available family planning options added that the training would also contribute to improving community-level service delivery and create opportunities for skilled personnel to support the programme.
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