By Daniel Oluwatobiloba Popoola
Founder and President/Emeritus of the Association for Reproductive and Family Health, Professor Oladapo Ladipo, has urged the Federal Government to allocate at least one dollar for every Nigerian woman of reproductive age to fund family planning supplies, including modern contraceptives.
The renowned obstetrician-gynaecologist made the call while speaking at the 5th Congress of the Association of West African Societies of Obstetrics and Gynaecology and WACOG in Lagos.
He explained that the proposed funding would amount to about $50m for the estimated 50 million women of reproductive age in Nigeria, as against the current $3m to $4m committed by the government, stressing that the increase was necessary to address reproductive health inequality and ensure family planning commodities remained available, particularly for women in rural communities.
“Government should allocate at least one dollar per woman of reproductive age for reproductive health commodities. It’s not too much for government. There are about 50 million women of reproductive age, so we’re talking about $50 million instead of $4 million. We need to see that the government does more because of the reproductive health inequality and injustice we talked about today,” he said.
Ladipo, a member of the Board of Trustees and Council of the West African College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, decried the country’s high maternal mortality rate, describing Nigeria’s standing as the worst place to be pregnant as shameful.
“Our maternal deaths are so high. Nigeria is rated as the worst place to be pregnant; that is shameful. Our MMR of 996 per 100,000 is shameful, when a place like Israel is two. It will be your generation to fight the fight to ensure that women can access good quality reproductive health services,” he said.
He further decried the country’s continued reliance on donor funding for contraceptive procurement and distribution, stressing that government must take greater responsibility for funding its family planning services in light of dwindling donor support.
“For reproductive commodities, the government is committed to $3 or $4 million only. The donors provide the rest, about $26 million. With Mr Trump, of course, it’s becoming difficult,” he said.
He added that advocacy for increased government funding remained necessary to ensure commodities were made available nationwide, particularly in rural areas.
“We need to advocate to the government to give more money for reproductive health commodities so that it will be available everywhere, and those in rural areas can access it. Because we know that if you plan your family, you’ll have a good quality of life,” he said.
Family planning advocates and reproductive health experts have consistently raised concerns over Nigeria’s heavy dependence on donor funding for contraceptive procurement and distribution.
The suspension of support by the United States Agency for International Development in 2025 had earlier disrupted the distribution of family planning commodities in Bauchi State, with stakeholders warning of broader funding gaps threatening access to contraceptives nationwide.
The Federal Government had also reduced its family planning allocation from N2.2bn in 2024 to N66.39m in the 2025 budget, further heightening concerns over the sustainability of contraceptive supplies amid declining donor support.
With Nigeria’s population estimated at 242.4 million, family planning remains a major challenge, as 21 per cent of currently married women and 36 per cent of sexually active unmarried women have an unmet need for the service.
Gynaecologists under the umbrella of AWASOG/WACOG had earlier called on West African governments to fund family planning as a strategy to fight insecurity across the sub-region.
Speaking further, Ladipo called for what he described as “qualitative reproduction,” urging families to have only the number of children they could adequately cater for.
“You must support qualitative reproduction and not quantitative reproduction. You heard the message today that the association must ensure people have only the number of children they can cater for. Don’t reproduce recklessly because you can see the evidence today,” he said.
He also called for the effective implementation of the National Population Policy, particularly in view of the country’s prevailing economic challenges.
“With the state of the economy today, you have a lot of roles to play with the National Population Council to ensure that the policy of government is implemented to the right level,” he added.
Turning to the newly inducted fellows of the college, Ladipo urged them to recognise the wider responsibilities involved in caring for women, noting that obstetricians and gynaecologists must be equipped to manage not only their patients but also their babies and families.
“This is the most noble of all the noble professions, to be an obstetrician gynaecologist. The women are extremely special. But as practitioners, we don’t only deal with our patients. We deal with the husbands as well. We deal with the mothers, the fathers, mothers-in-law, fathers-in-law, even aunties. Not to talk about the baby in utero,” he said.
He stressed the need for healthcare professionals to ensure that women and their babies received appropriate care before, during and after delivery.
“Women are very special. We must treat them specially. We must ensure that the babies they carry are delivered in the optimal state of health with an Apgar score of 8, 9 or 10. In utero, you must monitor the growth and welfare of the baby, and ensure that the baby is not compromised, because if babies are asphyxiated, cognitive function will be affected,” he said.
He equally underscored the importance of breastfeeding and adequate nutrition in early childhood, warning of the long-term consequences of poor nutrition on child development.
“After delivery, you must educate them. Six months of exclusive breastfeeding to ensure the baby survives. Thereafter, good nutrition, because nutrition between birth and age five is so critical. If they are stunted or undernourished, cognitive function is compromised,” Ladipo told the AWASOG/WACOG fellows.
