Nigeria’s Self-Care through DMPA-SC Self-Injection Interventions Scale Up

Nigeria is working to improve people’s health through universal health coverage. As part of this focus, the DMPA-SC Access Collaborative, led by JSI and PATH, is supporting Nigeria’s national rollout of self-care intervention – an initiative that the Federal Ministry of Health says is crucial in order to reach the Sustainable Development Goal for improving the health of women and their children. The main goal of the self-care intervention is to scale up DMPA-SC self-injection and self-care interventions to reduce Nigeria’s currently unacceptable maternal mortality rate.

The Federal Ministry of Health led the country in leveraging the current success with DMPA-SC self-injection scale up to develop the national self care guidelines. The FMOH also led the development of an advocacy kit for self care interventions, including DMPA-SC self injection. The FMOH, the Access Collaborative and other partners are currently using this toolkit to help raise awareness at the state level. JSI’s own Nigeria Country Coordinator, Dr. Adewole Adefalu, remarked upon the initiative: “The past two weeks, we started the interesting process of engaging the highest decision makers and conducting orientation for all sub/-sub-national (local government) FP providers in the first two states, with truly amazing results. We’ll be replicating this in about 14 states, across all the regions of Nigeria.”

The success of the DMPA-SC self-injection found its way into the local papers where it was celebrated under the headline: Our Emphasis On Universal Health Coverage Is To Ensure Nigeria Achieves SDGs — FG. In the article’s interview with Oyo State Health Commissioner, Dr Bashir Bello, he reported that the DMPA-SC self-injection has improved access and created opportunities for women to take control of their health.

In another news article in the ElombahNews, JSI and the Access Collaborative’s work supporting DMPA-SC self injection and broader self-care efforts is featured. The article highlights the importance of training in educating healthcare workers on their specific roles in maintaining and improving the health of Nigerians. One goal is to enable people to take control of their own health and make better decisions regarding their own health. Self-injectable contraceptives is one step toward achieving that goal.

In the article Enugu govt keys into FG’s self-care health project, Dr. Adewole Adefalu is quoted saying, “Self-Care provides an opportunity to reduce barriers to accessing sexual reproductive health services and improve the wellbeing of girls and women. It’s the ability for individuals, families and communities to promote, maintain health, prevent disease and cope with illness with or without the support of a healthcare provider.”

JSI is proud to be a member of the Self-Care Trailblazers Committee, with our own Dr. Adewole Adefalu representing Nigeria. Learn more about the work of the DMPA Access Collaborative.