Experts Demand Investment in Family Planning Services, Lament $27.4m Contraceptive Commodity Funding Gap

Experts have decried the contraceptive commodity funding gap in Nigeria, which is estimated at $27.4 million as at March 2025, and called for improved investment in family planning services.

The experts raised the alarm at a one-day dissemination programme on “The Impact of Family Planning on Socio-economic Development: New Evidence” organised recently by the Academy for Health Development (AHEAD) and the Family Planning Impact Consortium at Presken Hotel and Resort, Ikeja, Lagos

According to them, “the withdrawal of USAID has significantly reduced contraceptive availability in Nigeria”. They added that “while the federal government has initiated some efforts towards closing the gaps created by USAID’s withdrawal from Nigeria’s health system and related development field, the picture is not clear yet.”

There are additional concerns about the future of Family Planning (FP) supplies in Nigeria such as the use of Presidential Initiative for unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC) for contraceptive funding rather than the usual mechanism of the National Contraceptive Basket Fund, the reported reduction in the Federal Government of Nigeria’s budget for FP from N2.225 billion in 2024 to N66.39 million in the 2025 budget, the delay on the part of the Federal Government to renew its co-financing agreement with UNFPA, among others.

In light of the concerns raised, the experts, led by a renowned Professor of Community Medicine and immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo, and President of the Academy for Health Development (AHEAD), Ile-Ife, Professor Adesegun Fatusi, advocated for improved investment in family planning services.

According to them, “an investment of $1 million would enable over 65,000 women and couples to receive modern contraceptive care, thereby averting 15,455 unintended pregnancies, 6,044 unplanned births, and 6,321 unsafe abortions as well as prevent the death of 83 women and girls”. 

New research evidence generated by the Family Planning Impact Consortium indicates that each additional $1 investment in family planning would yield $2 of cost savings in pregnancy-related and new-born care. The evidence from the Consortium shows that investment in Family Planning contributes to social and economic growth of countries, and family planning improves women’s likelihood of getting a paying job. 

Despite some advancements recorded over the past decade, the meeting said “Nigeria’s family planning indicators remain suboptimal with the modern contraceptive prevalence rate still only 15%, the level of unmet contraceptive needs still as high as 21% and only 45% of FP demands being met by modern methods.

The participants recommended, among others, high-level advocacy and engagement with critical stakeholders to address challenges related to low budgetary allocation to FP and contraceptive commodity procurement and non-release of allocated funds; renewal of co-financing agreement with UNFPA by the Federal Government; increased efforts regarding the domestic mobilisation of resources for the family planning agenda from the private sector; support the academic and research community and institutions in Nigeria, particularly those with programmes in Demography and Economics, to embrace the challenge of studying the impact of family planning on social and economic development.

Experts at the event include, among others, Professor Rhoda Mundi (Past President, Population Association of Nigeria and member of the National Population Commission Advisory Group); Dr Akin Akinbajo of UNFPA; Dr Ahmad Abdulwahab, representative of the Director General, Nigeria Governors Forum; Professor Olalekan Yinusa (Development Economist and former Commissioner for Economic Planning, Budget and Development, Osun State; and Professor Funmilayo Banjo (Demographer and former Director, Centre for Gender and Social Policy Studies, Obafemi Awolowo University), and officials of several State Ministries of Economic Planning.