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As support base for child spacing grows
BY ADEYEMI AKANJI, BAUCHI -Condoms are now in hot demand by married men in Ganjuwa Local Government Area (LGA) of Bauchi State, whose support for Child Birth Spacing (CBS) is growing by the day.
As part of promotional materials for CBS campaigns, the men are not mincing words asking for condoms as a way of supporting their wives’ spacing plans for children.
In their enlightenment strides, demanding access to more condom seems to be their signature tunes and there is excitement in the air for most families who have lost mothers and wives due to complications during child birth.
Forefront sources hinted that most married men attribute their increased condom demand on the need to have not only healthy families, but also promote quality family health within the community.
The Chairman of Ward Development Committee (WDC) in Kafin Madaki, Mustapha Ibrahim, who confirmed the development, said the CBS programme has been well accepted by people of the area.
Ibrahim stated this in a chat with Journalists, who are members of the Bauchi Public Health Media Network on the activities of CBS in the area on Monday at the Kafin Madaki Primary Health Centre (PHC).
He applauded the men for embracing the programme in support of their wives and families, adding; “We as a Committee have embarked on serious awareness creation among the people and the programme has been well accepted.”
According to him, “The men now come out publicly to demand for the supply of condoms to support their wives, but unfortunately, the package is out-of-stock for now.”
Ibrahim, who said most men now have good understanding that child birth spacing is important given the nation’s economic situation, noted that the development is very encouraging as mortality and morbidity rate of maternal and infant has positively improved in the areas.
The WDC Chairman appealed to Bauchi State Primary Health Care Development Agency (BASPHCDA) to as a matter of urgency supply CBS commodities, including condoms, to the facility for easy access by those desiring such services.
Presenting an update on their services, officer in charge of the PHC Centre, Kafin Madaki, Sani Usman, said not fewer than 58 CBS clients were recorded in the month of October 2020.
He however lamented that in the month under review, the health facility recorded out-of-stock entry for most CBS commodities, adding; “In the month of October 2020, on the average, we had 23 new clients in one week” .
“In Oct.2020, we recorded out-of-stock. But this is due to unexpected increase in the number of clients recorded”, Usman said.
Usman, who is a Community Health Officer, explained that among challenges encountered with CBS services were in respect of minor undesirable side effects.
He blamed the development on the fact that “the new clients are just starting, which causes them to experience minor side effects and we counsel them appropriately” .
He however said a major problem facing the facility is poor sanitation due to negligence by cleaners who have abdicated their responsibility of keeping the premises clean.
