The Africa Health Budget Network (AHBN) and it’s sister organization SAMASHA an NGO based in Uganda have paid an advocacy visits to the Kano State Contributory Healthcare Management Agency (KACHMA). The visit was aimed to intimate the agency of the work AHBN and SAMASHA are doing to strengthen accountability in women’s health and to foster collaboration in enhancing the state’s efforts regarding Family Planning and MNCH.
Dr Musa M. Bello who led the delegation expressed appreciations over the integration of family planning services into KACHMA service package and urged the agency to embrace collaborative monitoring of FP services rendered at various health facilities for transparency and accountability.
In their separate remarks, Mal. Aqibu Hamisu and Amina Haladu emphasis on strengthening working relation with NHIS and other local and international organizations especially looking into family planning and MNCH issues as multi sectorial and multi stakeholders wide approach. Mrs. Gift from SAMASHA also thanked the Executive Secretary for the good work she is doing and requested her to be the Champion of Family Planning and MNCH as part of project approach in identifying individuals who distinguished themselves in the promotion of family planning services.
In her responses – The Executive Secretary of KACHMA Dr. Rahila Mukhtar welcomed the delegation and reaffirmed the agency’s commitment to providing equitable, affordable, and comprehensive healthcare to all.
She emphasized the critical role of family planning in achieving maternal and child health outcomes, reducing maternal mortality, and contributing to broader socio-economic development.
Dr. Rahila explained that KACHMA has already integrated FP services in its benefits package—covering not only counseling as it was before but also the provision of consumables and commodities. She highlighted ongoing collaborations with partners like UNFPA and NHIA, and noted that family planning services are being scaled across primary and secondary healthcare levels. She further emphasized the agency’s vision of sustainability, accessibility, and accountability, particularly for underserved populations, she also appreciated the honor of nominating her as Champion of Family Planning and extended a hand of partnership with AHBN in all the activities of the agency especially in holding service providers accountable.
The team also visited Drugs and Medical Consumables Supply Agency (DMCSA) as a follow up engagement to ascertain the supply chain of FP commodities and advocated for strengthened multisectoral collaboration for integrated health services, with an emphasis on improving supply chain systems that support family planning and other essential health services.
The team was received by Pharmacist A M Bello on behalf of the Director General and briefed the team on the family planning commodities received from BMGF and distributed across the state health facilities. Mr. Bello stated that, to address the logistics challenges associated with distribution of FP commodities, the agency already integrated FP into Drugs Revolving Funds, therefore all facilities are including FP commodities in their drugs request form which makes it seamless means of distribution to the last mile. The team were also toured to the storages were family planning commodities were kept.
These coordinated advocacy efforts reflect a broader commitment of AHBN and SAMASHA to advancing Universal Health Coverage and improving access to reproductive healthcare services in Nigeria and Uganda. The engagement also served as evidence generation tactics and also tracks the state’s efforts towards the attainment of FP2030 Commitments.