Nigeria: Government pledges to supply more contraceptives

Following is an address to the London Summit on Family Planning by Dr Muhammad Ali Pate, the Minister of State for Health of Nigeria, on 11 July 2012.

By our top partner allAfrica
The Federal Government of Nigeria acknowledges the strong link between the structure of Nigeria's population and its national development. We are fully committed to reducing our currently unacceptably high maternal and child mortality rates. In this context, we are committed to enhancing access to, and utilization of essential, basic life-saving interventions, including the unmet need for family planning. This will be done in an integrated manner within framework of primary health care approach.
The structure of our population is such that the working age to non-working age population ratios have remained fairly stable over the last 50 years, driven by relatively high annual growth rates. We are aware that favourable ratios of working age to non-working age population enhances human capital investment as well as household savings potential. We realize that in order for Nigeria to reap its demographic dividend, and fulfill our aspiration for it to become one of the world's largest 20 economies by 2020, there is need for purposeful government effort to meet the currently unmet need for family planning commodities, enhance education of both girls and boys and empower our women. This is why human capital development is a pillar of the Transformation Agenda of His Excellency, Mr. President Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan's administration.
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