Rethinking Family Planning
Nigeria's Minister of Health, Professor Isaac Adewole, flanked by other high-level delegates at the NFPC 2018 opening ceremony. Photo credit: Nigeria Health Watch Rethinking Family Planning: Takeaways from the 5th NFPC 2018 “If you fail to plan, plan to fail” – Benjamin Franklin Family planning allows communities to shape their futures and use resources effectively. This has spillover effects on the nation’s economy, productivity, and well-being. Today, a Nigerian woman has an average of 5.5 children in her lifetime compared with her counterpart in neighbouring Ghana who has four. This has vast implications for Nigeria, in terms of its population, but more critically in terms of its economic growth and development. The Nigeria Family Planning Conference 2018 (NFPC 2018) was convened to deliberate on the contextual nuances around family planning and chart roadmaps for more progress in Nigeria’s family planning agenda. The 5 th edition of the conference took place between th