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Acceptance And Utilisation Of Family Planning Services Amongst Secondary School Students
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Family planning is an
important preventive measure against maternal and child morbidity and
mortality. It is an essential component of primary health care and
reproductive health. It plays a major role in reducing maternal and
neonatal morbidity and mortality. It confers important health and
development benefits to individuals, families and communities and the
nation at large. It helps women to prevent unwanted pregnancies and
limit the number of children, thereby enhance reproductive health. By
this, it contributes towards achievement of Millenium Development Goals
(MDGs) and the Target of the Health for all Policy.13 The MDGs call for
75% reduction in maternal mortality and two-thirds reduction in child
mortality between 1990 and 2015. As such effective utilization of family
planning services is critical for the attainment of these goals thus
improving health and accelerating development across the
regions.15Access to family planning also has the potential to control
population growth and in the long run reduce green gas house emission
with it associated risk.13 Similarly it has been estimated that
preventing unwanted pregnancies by the use of family planning would
avert a total of 4.6million Disability Adjusted Life Years.16 Despite
the importance and benefits of family planning, it has been estimated
that about 17% of all married women globally would prefer to avoid
pregnancy but are not willing to use any form of family planning.17 As a
result, 25% of all pregnancies are unintended particularly in
developing region of the world. This results to an estimated 18million
abortion taking place each year, thereby contributing to high maternal
morbidity and injuries.14,17 Sub-Saharan Africa which is home to only
10% of the world’s women, contributes annually, 12million unwanted or
unplanned pregnancies and 40% of all pregnancy related deaths worldwide.
The contraceptive prevalence in sub-Saharan Africa is low, estimated at
13%, in spite of the evidence of the pivotal role of family planning,
while in Nigeria the estimation is 8.0% with 17% unmet need for family
planning. This greatly contributes to the high rate of unintended
pregnancies leading to induced abortion with its consequent
complications. Despite the fact that Nigeria constitutes only 2% of the
world’s population, it has been shown to account for 10% of the world’s
maternal deaths. There is relatively high fertility rate in suburban and
rural Nigeria despite the efforts of government and other
non-governmental family planning services providers. Even though the
fertility rate is high, acceptance and utilization of modern family
planning methods has been low due to various reasons. In Africa,
provision of family planning services is hindered by poverty, poor
co-ordination of the programme and dwindling donor funding.
Additionally, traditional beliefs favouring high fertility, religious
barriers, fear of side effect and lack of male involvement have
contributed significantly in weakening family planning interventions
among women.
1.2 Statement of Problem
According to NDHS 2013, only
15 percent of currently married women in Nigeria are using a
contraceptive method, indicating only a two percentage point increase
from the 2003 NDHS. The majority of contraceptive users rely on a modern
method (10 percent of currently married women), and 5 percent use
traditional methods. Among the modern methods, injectables (3 percent),
male condoms (2 percent), and the pill (2 percent) are the most common
methods being used. The practice of all other modern methods is far less
(under 1 percent). Interestingly, 3 percent use withdrawal as a method
of contraception.
The use of contraceptives varies by women’s
background characteristics. The proportion of currently married women
who are currently using any method of contraception rises with age from
only 2 percent among women age 15-19 to 22 percent among age 40-44. The
use of contraception then decreases among women who are age 45 and
older. Among modern methods, use of condoms is more popular among women
under age 35, while injectables are more popular among women age 35-44.
Currently married women in urban areas are considerably more likely to
use any method of contraception (27 percent) than women in rural areas
(9 percent). Use is higher in urban than in rural areas for each of
these methods. Contraceptive use among currently married women aged
between 15 to 49 years in North West Nigeria is 4.3% while that of North
East and North Central are 3.2% and 15.6% respectively. Use is higher
in Southern Nigeria with South East (29.3%), South South (28.1%) and
South West (38.0%). Gross disparities occur among the six (6)
geopolitical zones as well as among states. Kano State has contraceptive
use of 0.6% (lowest in the North) with only 0.5% using any modern
method (pill- 0.2%, IUD- 0.2%, injectables- 0.1% while 0.0% use
implants, male condom, LAM, standard days methods and female
sterilization).
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ABSRACT - [ Total Page(s): 1 ]Family planning is an important preventive measure against maternal and child morbidity and mortality. It is an essential component of primary health care and reproductive health. There is relatively high fertility rate in suburban and rural Nigeria despite the efforts of government and other non-governmental family planning services providers. This study sought to investigate the acceptance and utilisation of family planning services amongst secondary school students in Kakwalaka Village, Bendi ... Continue reading---
