Family planning awareness campaigns pay off in Adamawa

By Yagana Ali, Yola.

A sustained awareness campaign by the Challenge Initiative (TCI), an international NGO, has led to a significant decline in myths surrounding family planning in Adamawa State.

According to Mr. Godiya Yusuf, TCI’s State Programme Manager, the state has recorded 104,486 new acceptors of family planning services between 2024 and mid-2025.

The partnership between TCI and the Adamawa government has been instrumental in dispelling misconceptions about contraceptives and boosting service uptake across communities.

Training of health workers, awareness creation, and consistent supervision have contributed to the increase in family planning acceptors. As of June 2024, users of modern contraceptives rose to 79,764, representing 78% of the initiative’s reach.

Yusuf identified capacity building, monitoring and evaluation, supportive supervision, and regular facility visits as key drivers of the progress. Mrs. Aisha Abubakar, State Focal Person for Family Planning, emphasized that sensitization campaigns have helped clarify misconceptions about family planning. “Family planning is about spacing births, not stopping them.

It allows mothers to remain healthy and ensures children grow strong. Pregnancy should be by choice, not by chance,” she said.

The District Head of Kajoli, Alhaji Kabiru Hayatu, noted that when women are healthy, the whole family benefits. 

He encouraged men to support their wives in taking the right decisions on modern contraceptives.

A cross-section of families who spoke to journalists said the interventions had encouraged wider acceptance of modern methods across rural communities.

Hajiya Maryam Musa, a 29-year-old trader from Jimeta, Yola North Local Government Area (LGA), shared her experience of adopting family planning. She said it had enabled her to regain strength and raise healthier children. 

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Maryam recalled that before embracing family planning, she believed contraceptives were harmful to women’s health. Malam Buba Ahmed, a farmer and community leader, 

Yola South LGA, said he now accompanies his wife to the clinic for family planning services. He noted that awareness campaigns had helped to dispel myths surrounding contraceptives, and more families are embracing family planning services.

Adamawa currently has about 1.2 million women of reproductive age, with improved access to family planning commodities across health facilities in the state. The initiative has contributed to healthier families and a reduction in misconceptions about family planning.