Ondo State partners NGO to boost reproductive health services

The Ondo State Government in Nigeria is enhancing its reproductive health services through a new partnership with the Lifespring Development Foundation (LSDF). This collaboration focuses on improving the management of healthcare commodities, with a particular emphasis on sexual and reproductive health supplies, to prevent shortages and wastage.

The initiative aims to ensure proper data and record-keeping for essential commodities, thereby strengthening family planning, maternal and child health, and broader reproductive healthcare services across the state. The partnership is part of the Federal Government’s Sexual and Reproductive Health Project and is currently being implemented in three local government areas: Ondo West, Ese Odo, and Ifedore.

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It is a partner that has been with us since the beginning of this year. It is a consortium with another group. So they are implementing an SRH project by the Federal Government. So Ondo State is part of the beneficiary and this partnership is in three local governments – Ondo West, Ese Odo and Ifedore.

Dr. Toyin Adeyalo-Ogundare, the state's Reproductive Health Coordinator, highlighted the impact of the collaboration, noting its commencement earlier in the year. She explained that a two-day commodity forecasting and quantification training, sponsored by LSDF, is underway for state health workers. This training is crucial for building the capacity of personnel responsible for predicting and managing reproductive health supplies.

"This will help us to be able to forecast what we need using what we have used, data that we have used to forecast or to predict what we are likely to use so that we can, as much as possible, avoid understocking and expiry of healthcare commodities," Adeyalo-Ogundare stated. The goal is to make informed decisions based on facility data, understanding usage patterns, and identifying reasons for stock fluctuations to ensure consistent availability of necessary healthcare items.

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This will help us to be able to forecast what we need using what we have used, data that we have used to forecast or to predict what we are likely to use so that we can, as much as possible, avoid understocking and expiry of healthcare commodities.