Population control a panacea for economic development – Dr Ononye

From: Nosa Akenzua, Asaba

Residents in Delta State have been called upon to embrace population control through the option of family planning by bringing forth only the numbers of children that they can effectively carter for considering the resources available to them.
The Delta State Commissioner for Health Dr. Mordi Ononye made the call during an interview in his office as part of activities to mark the 2020 World Contraception Day in Asaba.
He explained that government’s stance on family planning does not mean support for abortion but rather called on youths to imbibe abstinence from sex and where not feasible to embrace family planning options that are available to them.
Dr. Ononye counseled the youths to protect their future through self-discipline and rational thinking as it pertains to their sexual appetite adding that they have beautiful lives ahead of them which they should not throw away because of the pleasures of few minutes of today which they can avoid.
He disclosed that funds allocated for Family Planning activities in the Reviewed Delta State 2020 Budget is N20m and that efforts are on to actualize the commencement of the release of funds for family planning activities in the State.
Dr Ononye explained that the State has made tremendous progress in Family Planning (FP) over the years in that it has more than tripled the annual FP Uptake from 15,486 New Acceptors in 2015 to 53,583 in 2019.
“As at June 2020, the number of new women who have taken up FP methods was 32,135 which shows that the State is poised to surpass its 2019 achievement despite the challenges of the COVID 19 pandemic”, he added.
The Hon Commissioner said the State is also scaling up the use of Depot Medroxyprogesterone Acetate Subcutaneous/Self Injection (DMPA SC/SI) method as a strategy to increase the access of our women and girls to FP through non-clinical channels such as Proprietary Patent Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) and Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs).