Lorine Emenike
The Chairman of Advocacy working group on family planning Rivers State, Prof. Cosmos Enyindah in has urged religious leaders in the state to ensure they use their platforms to educate their members on effective family planning.
Enyindah made the remarks in a discussion at a two days sensitisation workshop put together by The Challenge Initiative (TCI).
The sensitisation aimed to help religious leaders initiate modalities on ways to disseminate information on family planning which will, in turn, reduce all the misconception about Family planning.
Continuing, Enyindah said family planning would reduce mortality rate and help in the development of Nigeria’s economy.
He also appealed to young people of Reproductive age to approach health centres nearest to them to seek ways of curtailing unwanted pregnancy and Family planning.
He said ‘’One of the worst things to happen to a woman is to cater for an unplanned pregnancy”.
He also encouraged residents to seek Family planning in all the health centres closest to them, including the three Teaching Hospitals in River State.
Also, Director of Primary Health Care Management Board, Dr Isaac Opurum applauded the Religious Leaders for heading the call to attend the training.
He said the roles of traditional leaders could not be overemphasised, adding that they play an essential role in ensuring that information disseminations gets to their faith-based membership undiluted.
He said they are trusted due to their belief in the faith, and informed the Religious leaders that the government would be rolling out two immunisation program later this month on Yellow fever vaccination and Measles.
He explained that there’s a need for children to take the second dose of the measles vaccine which the government had earlier embarked on and carried out in the state.
He called on the religious leaders to support the government in ensuring that this information gets to their members and ensure they accept them for the best interest of the society.
He said ‘’government means well for the people of the state and that means that every immunisation campaign program in the state is to promote the health indices of her citizens’’.
“Government by next year will partner with the federal ministry of health to ensure that Human Papilloma Virus Vaccine HPV against Cervical cancer will be provided free of charge” he added.
