By Hassan Zaggi
The Chairman of the National Population Commission (NPC), Nasir Isa Kwarra, has warned of the dire consequences of unintended pregnancies saying they affect all facets of the nation’s progress and development.
Speaking at the launch of the 2022 State of the World Population (SWOP) Report, in Abuja, he regretted that unintended pregnancy particularly, among teenagers/ adolescent girls is a major health concern, as it is associated with high morbidity and mortality of both mother and child, including outcomes of malnutrition.
Isa Kwara stressed that unintended pregnancies constitute proximate determinant of high fertility rates (currently at 5.3 per woman) and rapid population growth; contributes to high preventable maternal death, (512/100,000 live births); contribute to high child mortality rates and malnourishment, particularly among the under-five; contributes to high rates of out-of-school and drop-outs among girls and promote and also sustain extreme poverty at household level as it interrupts women’s jobs and earnings.
Speaking on the efforts of the government to prevent unintended pregnancies, the NPC Chairman said the government has shown commitments to ensure the fundamental rights of women and girls are exercised.
The government, according to him, has ensure funding access to free family planning information, counselling and services in all public health facilities since 2011; encouraged women’s participation in decisions that affects their lives and well-being and launched and also commenced implementation of the Revised National Policy on Population for Sustainable Development (NPP) and the Roadmap for harnessing the demographic dividend through investment in youth.
Speaking on how Nigeria can eliminate unintended pregnancies, he said it must make effort to achieve zero unmet need for family planning (FP) through expanded access to full range of FP commodities; improve financing for Sexual and Reproductive Health (SRH), including securing, distribution and sustained availability of family planning commodities and consumables at all Primary Health Care (PHC) service points and centres and abolish child marriage through legislation with penalties for defaulters/perpetrators.
The government, according to him, must promote and emphasize quality, compulsory and continuing education of girls to complete a minimum of secondary schooling; deploy a holistic engagement and advocacy through the platform of the National Population Policy (NPP) implementation to promote Family Life Education and invest in health systems strengthening at the sub-national.
While presenting the report, the Deputy Representative of the United Nation Population Fund (UNFPA) in Nigeria, Erika Goldson, reiterated that reducing unintended pregnancies is key to achieving Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
“We must reduce unintended pregnancy because it increases women’s health, agency and ability to fulfil their potential, improving outcomes for families and societies at large,” she stressed.
She further revealed that more than 60% of unintended pregnancies end in abortion.
“Many unintended pregnancies happen despite a woman’s best efforts. Some become pregnant as a result of violence or coercion, a vulnerability heightened in crises, whether caused by man-made conflicts or natural disasters. For others, pregnancy is a default rather than a deliberate choice. Some women simply choose not to choose,” Goldson said.
According to her, unintended pregnancies can be prevented if women are empowered to make affirmative decisions about sexuality and motherhood.
For this to happen, she insisted, “we must guarantee access to the broadest range of contraceptives and quality sexual and reproductive health care; educate young people about sexuality and reproduction; reduce gender inequality ; increase access to education and employment opportunities for women and girls to encourage them to postpone pregnancy and invest in contraceptive research to reduce side effects, increase acceptability and create more male-controlled options.”
The UNFPA Deputy Representative further revealed that, globally, nearly half of all pregnancies are unintended, a startling 121 million each year throughout the world.
She disclosed that Nigeria records about 2.5 million cases of unintended pregnancy annually and that in Nigeria, 19 per cent of married women and 48 per cent of unmarried women seek to postpone or delay childbearing.
One in two pregnancies, she said, take place in the bodies of people who did not affirmatively choose pregnancy or motherhood, who were not open to the prospect of having a child at that time, with that partner, in those circumstances.
The SWOP Report is UNFPA’s annual flagship publication. It has been published every year since 1978, to shed light on the emerging population and development issues, including sexual and reproductive health and rights issues.
The aim of the report is to bring the issues into the mainstream of global attention, exploring the challenges and opportunities they present for international development in the effort not to leave anyone behind.
The 2022 Edition of the State of the World Population was christened “Seeing the Unseen: the case of action in the neglected crisis of unintended pregnancy,” which focused on the impact of unintended pregnancy on societies, countries, and global development overall.
