Project Director, Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI), Mr Moji Odeku, Has said that child spacing can reduce maternal mortality by 40 per cent.

Odeku made the assertion on Wednesday in Ilorin during the official presentation of the Family Planning Blueprint to the state Ministry of Health.

The project director, declaring Kwara as the pacesetter in Nigeria in family planning initiatives, said that an amount should equally be earmarked for family planning when budgeting for maternity care. Odeku, therefore, tasked the state government to be committed to family planning activities by providing necessary commodities, especially for people in the rural areas.

"Kwara must achieve over 39 per cent to achieve success in family planning initiatives in the state. "At least, the government must be ready to spend a minimum of N100 per person for the consumables needed for family planning," she said.

She also disclosed that the patron of NURHI, Gates and Belinda Foundation, would award grants to any state in Nigeria which showed outstanding commitment to the promotion of family planning in their communities.

The state Commissioner for Health, Alhaji Atolagbe Alege, said: "The State Government is keying into the Federal Ministry of Health's commitment to mother and child safety and health.

"When mothers are happy, the children are happy and this affects the society positively." He pledged that the state government would provide the necessary funding for the success of the initiative in the state.

Earlier in his opening address, Alhaji Wahab Ajibola, Chairman of Advocacy Core Group Nigeria, described the Family Planning Blueprint as a state government's document developed to provide direction and framework.

He explained that the framework would accelerate the state contraceptive prevalence rate target of 39.99 per cent. Ajibola, however, emphasised that the state would need to play a crucial role in managing the implementation of the blueprint. (NAN)