Ondo, NGO train 168 healthcare providers in birth control
The Ondo State Ministry of Health, in collaboration with an International Non-Governmental Organisation, Jhpiego, have trained 168 healthcare providers on the provision of Hormonal Intrauterine Devices.
A HIUD is said to be a type of birth control that is placed in the uterus and uses hormones to give long-term birth control.
The training was part of a project initiated by Jhpiego in partnership with Ondo State Government, tagged, ‘Scaling up Hormonal Intrauterine Devices to primary health care facilities in Ondo State, Nigeria,’
Speaking at the dissemination of the project in Akure, the state capital, on Friday, the state head of family planning, Opeyemi Agunbiade, disclosed that the project, which started October last year, had successfully trained and built a capacity of 168 service providers to initiate and provide H-IUD service, thus, enhancing their skills and confidence.
According to her, the project has also equipped 15 pre-service educators and preceptors with knowledge and skills on H-IUD counselling, insertion, and removal procedures, ensuring future healthcare workers are competent in providing comprehensive contraceptive services.
She said, “This project which started in October last year and has recorded lots of success. We have trained and built the capacity of 168 service providers to initiate and provide hormonal IUD services, enhancing their skills and confidence.
“We have also equipped 15 pre-service educators and preceptors with knowledge and skills on hormonal IUD counselling, insertion, and removal procedures, ensuring future healthcare workers are competent in providing comprehensive contraceptive services.
“These achievements demonstrate the project’s success in expanding access to quality contraceptive services, building capacity, and promoting collaborative partnerships to improve reproductive health outcomes in Nigeria.”
In her remarks, the Project Coordinator, Mrs Hannatu Abdullahi, explained that the aim of the project was to support the government of Nigeria in achieving its “national H-IUD introduction and scale-up strategy, increasing family planning options and meeting the unmet needs among Nigerian women of reproductive age.”
The State Commissioner for Health, Dr Banji Ajaka, in his own comments, expressed gratitude to Jhpiego for carrying out such a project in Ondo State.
Ajaka, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Health, Niran Ikuomola, noted that family planning was an essential need for every family and every state at large.
The commissioner described family planning as a crucial public health intervention that enabled women and couples to make informed reproductive health decisions, and “such decisions are now more crucial, especially in this present economy.”
