This was stated at the Ministry of Health's public awareness forum for the members of the House of Representatives regarding access, success and gaps in family planning services. Speaking at the forum, the State Minister of Health, Dr. Dereje Duguma, said that providing family planning services is the most important way to save the lives of women and children. He stated that attention should be given to making this service accessible.
Despite the work done by the family planning service and the improvements achieved in the past years, 22 percent of married women still want to access the service but are not able to access it, said the state minister. He explained that this is due to lack of funds in the fiscal year.
Therefore, the House is asked to do its part to fill this budget and resource gap. The members of the House have called on to correct the misconceptions about family planning services and to do things that will help to provide accurate information to the society.
The Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Honorable Lomi Bedo, said that although the number of mothers and young women who die every year is decreasing, the problem is still serious. She said that, “one of the measures that enable us to reduce maternal mortality, including family planning services, should be emphasized to make basic health services accessible to these affected sections of the society.” She said that they will work to overcome the lack of budget and resources and the limited awareness in the society. Therefore, she urged the members of the House to support the works and to have this problem in mind when they go to the society they represent.
One of the measures of a country's progress is the health of mothers and children, according to the Director of the Directorate of Maternal and Child Health at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Meseret Zelalem. In order to confirm this, she stated that, “by expanding health facilities, making maternity services accessible, and through the health extension program, a broad social movement has been made and many successes have been achieved over the years.”
In particular, maternal mortality has been reduced from 1000 to 401, and it is planned to decrease to 279 in the next 5 years. According to the doctor, it is expected to reduce the number of maternal deaths to 140, which will require a lot of efforts.
Similarly, in Ethiopia's 2021 annual success report, more than 8.7 million women have benefited from family planning services. According to the information provided by the director, the death of 10,000 mothers was avoided by terminating 806,000 unsafe abortions and 3.2 million unplanned pregnancies.
However, it is pointed out that there is still a wide gap in this regard. The member of the House of Representatives has been asked to pay attention to this problem and to monitor and provide their support.
The members who gave their opinion in the discussion on the forum said that the members of the House of Representatives will do their part to expand family planning services and benefit the society.