In an effort check increasing population growth, an advocacy group, Voice for Family Planning and Reproductive Health Centre (V4FPRCH), has advised couples to refrain from hiding behind culture to avoid family planning.
Prof. Josiah Mutihir, the Plateau State Chairman of the group, gave the advice on Friday in Jos at a meeting organised for the media.
“We should not follow the culture that says the more children one has, the richer one becomes,” Mutihir said.
He said a situation where some Nigerian couples still as many as seven children, posed a danger to the nation’s population and planning.
According to him only 18 per cent of married women use child spacing methods in Plateau.
Mutihir noted that Plateau had over 500 facilities offering family planning services.
“We have these services in private hospitals and primary health centres supported by partners in the state.
He urged the media to be part of the campaign against population explosion by taking the message to rural dwellers.
In a remark, Mrs Hannatu Dung, the Secretary of the group, said that the campaign for child spacing was important in order to create an atmosphere where a child would enjoy love and security and for the good of society at large. (NAN)