The Society for Family Health joined the State Ministry of Health and other implementing partners at the Quarterly Reproductive Health Technical Working Group and Family Planning Procurement Guideline Validation Meeting. This meeting aimed to finalise the documentation for the state-sponsored procurement of family planning commodities to fill the commodity gap.

The Kano state government keyed into the national guideline for state procurement of family planning commodities developed by the FMOH/SW and partners in 2021.

The Hon. Commissioner for Health, Dr. Yusuf Labaran, noted that the state holds the health and well-being of women as a high priority and has committed funds to ensure the method mix for family planning is sustained for women of reproductive age. SFH’s involvement in the development of this document and its validation will help prevent the incessant stockout of family planning commodities experienced by Kano State.

The Society for Family Health, through the Catalytic Opportunity Fund Hormonal IUD Scale-up project, also made donations to the governments of Kano and Delta states to support system strengthening and quality service provisions in the states.

The COF project donated cartons of consumables and data collection tools like FP registers, client cards, monthly summary forms, and training manuals to support quality RH services in the states. The consumables included basic bleach, liquid hand wash, hand sanitizers, pregnancy test strips, detergents, and cotton wool, all aimed at ensuring that facilities provide services of the highest quality to clients as well as having tools for appropriate documentation of FP services in the state.

Receiving the donation on behalf of the states, the Honourable Commissioner for Health, Dr. Yusuf Labaran, and Permanent Secretary, Dr. Philomena Okeowo, of Kano and Delta states, appreciated SFH for this very commendable gesture and lauded the valuable contributions SFH has made in improving access to modern contraceptives in the states and improving the overall health indices of the people.

The Director of Health System Strengthening, Mr. Yusuf Dayyabu, and COF Project Director, Dr. Eze Nwokoma, made the donations on behalf of SFH.

The COF project is a one-year project aimed at supporting the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare in increasing access to hormonal IUDs in public sector facilities in Kano and Delta states. This is done by training 220 healthcare workers in 20 LGAs, as well as improving demand generation by training 100 community mobilizers and conducting data-strengthening activities in the selected facilities. The project utilises state structures for implementation to ensure sustainability.