National Population Commission, NPC, says family planning suffered complete neglect due to the COVID-19 lockdown.
The National Chairman of the commission, Dr Nasir Isa Kwarr, represented by Jigawa State federal commissioner of the commission Garba AG Zakar stated this in Dutse to mark this year’s world population day.
He said the lengthy COVID-19 pandemic lockdown has greatly affected women and girls, which resulted to unplanned pregnancies, leading to massive increase in the country’s population.
The chairman said women and girls mostly encountered economic hardship and social challenges, including lack of access to basic health care during the lockdown.
He explained that in the effort to address problems brought by the pandemic, issues of reproductive health, especially family planning suffered complete neglect thereby reversing the gains made on population management.
He said the trend if unchecked might have long term negative impact on the effort to moderate Nigeria’s population growth for better life to all citizens.
