Concerned by the spate of unsafe sex by adolescents in the country, an NGO, the Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative, says there is a need for increased information about unsafe sex to reduce the consequences.
According to the NGO, current studies indicate that about one-quarter of Nigerian adolescents are sexually active, with the age of sexual debut ranging from 10 to 15 years.
Nigeria’s population continues to increase rapidly with no commensurate development in health care service delivery. With a current estimated population of 186 million and an annual growth rate of about 2.5%, Nigeria’s huge population, fuelled by high birth rate without good family planning, can be a huge burden with resultant poor health indices such as high maternal and infant deaths. Nigeria’s maternal and child deaths is one of the highest in the world.
The Nigerian Urban Reproductive Health Initiative (NURHI) 2, a Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation funded project, on Monday inaugurated a family planning unit at the Ibafon Primary Health Centre in Ajeromi Ifelodun LGA, Lagos State.
NURHI 2 put the family planning unit put in place under a “72-hour Family Planning Clinic Make-Over’’ project from 50 selected primary health centres (PHC) and hospitals in Lagos.
