A $27.4 million funding shortfall for essential contraceptive commodities is threatening to leave millions of women without access to family planning services, health experts warned on Thursday, August 7.
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The crisis stems from the withdrawal of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) from Nigeria’s health sector, creating what specialists describe as a potentially catastrophic gap in reproductive healthcare funding that could reverse decades of progress in maternal health outcomes.
Speaking at a one-day dissemination programme titled “The Impact of Family Planning on Socio-economic Development: New Evidence,” organised by the Academy for Health Development (AHEAD) and the Family Planning Impact Consortium, leading health experts painted a stark picture of the challenges ahead.
President of AHEAD and immediate past Vice-Chancellor of the University of Medical Sciences (UNIMED), Ondo State, Prof. Adesegun Fatusi, stated the scale of the crisis facing Nigerian women. The professor of community medicine highlighted that Nigeria’s family planning indicators remain dangerously suboptimal, with modern contraceptive prevalence at just 15% and unmet contraceptive needs affecting 21% of women.
The experts presented compelling evidence that every $1 million investment in family planning would enable over 65,000 women and couples to receive modern contraceptive care, preventing 15,455 unintended pregnancies, 6,044 unplanned births, and 6,321 unsafe abortions, while saving the lives of 83 women and girls. New research from the Family Planning Impact Consortium demonstrates that each additional dollar invested yields $2 in cost savings for pregnancy-related and newborn care.
However, the funding landscape has become increasingly precarious. Beyond USAID’s exit, experts expressed alarm over the Federal Government’s dramatic budget reduction for family planning from N2.225 billion in 2024 to just N66.39 million in the 2025 budget – a cut of over 97%. Additional concerns include delays in renewing Nigeria’s co-financing agreement with UNFPA and uncertainty over the Presidential Initiative for Unlocking the Healthcare Value Chain (PVAC), replacing traditional funding mechanisms like the National Contraceptive Basket Fund.
Prof. Fatusi acknowledged some federal government efforts to address the USAID departure but noted that “the picture is not clear yet,” highlighting the urgent need for comprehensive solutions to prevent a reproductive health catastrophe.
The gathering brought together distinguished experts, including Professor Rhoda Mundi, past president of the Population Association of Nigeria; Dr. Akin Akinbajo of UNFPA; Dr. Ahmad Abdulwahab, representing the Nigeria Governors Forum; Professor Olalekan Yinusa, development economist and former Osun State commissioner; and Professor Funmilayo Banjo, demographer and former director of the Centre for Gender and Social Policy Studies at Obafemi Awolowo University.
The experts called for immediate action on multiple fronts: increased government investment in domestic resource mobilisation, enhanced private sector engagement in family planning initiatives, and stronger support for academic institutions studying the socio-economic impacts of reproductive healthcare.
With only 45% of family planning demands currently met by modern methods in Nigeria, the funding crisis threatens to worsen already dire statistics and potentially trigger a public health emergency affecting millions of women across the country.
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