By Kemi Olatunde

The need for stakeholders to support the health programmes of partners in Ondo State has been emphasised.

The Commissioner for Health, Dr Banji Awolowo Ajaka, spoke during a dissemination meeting of the hormonal IUD project in the state on Thursday in Akure.

According to him, managers of health facilities must encourage health workers to improve service delivery, stressing the need for intersectoral collaboration to ensure quality service delivery.

Commending the partner, Jhpiego, for implementing the hormonal IUD project in the state, he stated that the government would ensure its sustainability due to the importance of family planning to the residents of the Sunshine State.

He noted that the project has helped reduce maternal mortality, improve family well-being, and enhance the state’s health indices.

He explained that to sustain the utilisation of the contraceptive in the state, people must be encouraged to embrace it through demand creation.

He called on everyone to ensure that the project becomes integrated into the system, urging them to capitalise on its gains.

Ajaka, who was represented by the Ministry’s Permanent Secretary, Dr Adeniran Ikuomola, urged everyone to embrace family planning.

In her remarks, Jhpiego Project Director, Alhannatu Abdullahi, stated that the introduction and scale-up of the project followed the development of a national introduction and scale-up strategy plan for hormonal IUD by the federal government, noting that the government requested partners’ support.

She expressed appreciation to the state health ministry for providing leadership and an enabling environment to implement the project, assuring the state of Jhpiego’s readiness to implement more programmes.

In his welcome address, the representative of the Permanent Secretary, Ondo State Primary Health Care Development Agency (OSPHCDA), and Director of Medical Services, Dr Paulinus Omode, assured that the state would adopt some of the practices and lessons gained from the project to strengthen reproductive services in the state.

While noting that the introduction of hormonal IUD has added value to family planning services, he assured of its availability, stating that the government is putting measures in place to achieve this.

The representative of the Permanent Secretary, Ondo State Hospitals’ Management Board, Dr Iwaola Michael, noted that with good family planning practices, fewer people would become involved in kidnapping and other social vices, adding that concerted efforts must be made to reduce the country’s population.

In their goodwill messages, other partners, including Marie Stopes and the Clinton Health Initiative, assured continued support for quality services in the state.

The representative of the Ondo State College of Health Technology, Akure, Mrs Olayemi Aladeniyi, appreciated the partner for the project, which, according to her, has improved service delivery in the institution.

Akure South PHC Coordinator, Dr Adeyemi Osowe, while noting that the project has impacted the health sector, called on the partner to facilitate more health programmes in the state.

In a presentation by Winifred Imoyera of Jhpiego and Opeyemi Agunbiade of OSPHCDA, it was noted that the project was scaled up to 168 PHCs to increase the availability of contraceptive methods. They also stated that the state has competent hormonal IUD providers in various health facilities.

However, they revealed that the project improved service delivery in the state through targeted training, supportive supervision, supply chain enhancement, and community mobilisation, adding that it addressed critical barriers to contraceptive access, among other issues.