The Katsina State Government has unveiled domesticated guidelines for state-funded procurement of family planning commodities to strengthen healthcare financing and improve access to childbirth spacing services.

The guidelines were unveiled on Wednesday at a dissemination workshop organised by the State Ministry of Health in collaboration with the Access to Medicines Initiative (AMI).

The event brought together government officials, development partners, civil society organisations and local government representatives.

Speaking at the event, the Commissioner for Health, Musa Funtua, described the guideline as a roadmap for sustainable financing of family planning commodities in the state.

He said the framework would enable the government to plan, budget and procure child birth spacing commodities with state resources, thereby reducing stock-outs in public health facilities.

“This guideline is a roadmap for us to plan, budget and procure family planning commodities with state funds.

“It will reduce stock-outs and ensure that every woman who walks into our health facilities gets the method of her choice,” Mr Funtua said.

He added that the initiative reflected the government’s commitment to improving maternal and child health through increased domestic funding.

A representative of the AMI, Musa Abdullahi-Sufi, said the organisation was supporting Katsina to strengthen government capacity for sustainable financing and commodity security.

He said the intervention would help ensure uninterrupted availability of family planning commodities beyond donor support.

Also speaking, the representative of civil society organisations (CSOs), Yahaya Saidu, pledged the support of civil society in mobilising communities and creating awareness about childbirth spacing services.

Chairman of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria (ALGON), Katsina State chapter, Rabo Tambaya, assured the state government of the commitment of the 34 local government councils to support the initiative through budgetary allocations.

Health experts at the workshop said the domesticated guideline would strengthen government ownership of family planning programmes and contribute to improved maternal and reproductive health outcomes in the state. 

(NAN)