Lagos To Domesticate Guidelines On Sexual, Maternal Health

Indication has emerged that Lagos state government will become the first state in Nigeria to domesticate the National Guidelines on Self-Care for Sexual, Reproductive and Maternal Health in the country.

The state is embarking on the laudable step with technical and financial support from the Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with John Snow Incorporated (JSI).

Self-Care, according to the Federal Ministry of Health, is beneficial especially in the bid to accomplish the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG)three, ‘good health for all’ through universal health coverage.

The main goal of the self-care intervention is to improve the health of Nigerian women and their children through scaling up self-care interventions in the planning of our families, thereby reducing preventable deaths of women from pregnancy related causes.

The director and head of Reproductive Health, Federal Ministry of Health, Dr. Binyerem Ukaire who gave the hint at the opening ceremony of a four days’ workshop on the ‘Domestication of the National Guidelines for Self-Care for Sexual Reproductive and Maternal Health in Lagos State’, noted that the programme aligns with one of the ministry’s key mandate to provide technical support to all the states in the federation to facilitate the domestication and implementation of national policies at state and community levels.

Binyerem said, “In alignment with the World Health Organisation (WHO’s) recommendations on self-care, the Federal Ministry of Health in collaboration with her partners has provided strategic direction through the National Guidelines for the introduction and scale-up of DMPA SC self-injection, as a game changer for achieving the sustainable development goal 3.7 on ensuring universal access to sexual and reproductive health and rights to all Nigerians.

‘’Some of these self-care interventions cut across many health-related issues that are common with women.

‘’It is notable that the Lagos State Ministry of Health is setting the pace in domesticating the Self-care Intervention in Nigeria particularly because this action will motivate other states to do likewise. Health impact becomes tangible when it happens at state and community levels. DMPA-SC self-injection is well accepted by women and will increase access especially for women in hard-to-reach areas. It has the potential to reposition the reproductive health status of Nigerians by 2030.”