Accessibility and utilization of family planning services in Nigeria during the coronavirus disease-2019 pandemic

Abstract

Background: Family planning services are an important aspect of reproductive health as it helps in the improvement of maternal health. During the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, several measures were taken by the Nigerian government to control the virus, which included restriction of movements including curfews and lockdown. Aim: This article is a review of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the accessibility of family planning services in Nigeria. Materials and Methods: This is a narrative review of articles related to the accessibility of family planning services during the COVID-19 pandemic. The literature search was done using Medline, Google Scholar, and PubMed. The keywords used for searching for the literature were COVID-19 and family planning services in Nigeria. The literature search review was done from June 2020 to November 2021. Results: The study found both supply- and demand-side service disruptions. There was a disruption in the supply chain management system, affecting the production and distribution of family planning commodities. The demand-side issues were because of the lockdown measures on health seeking behaviour, absence, and increased cost of transportation. Conclusion: Accessing and utilizing various contraceptive methods were disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This is due to several factors including the restriction of movements put in place by the Nigerian government to control the pandemic. The improvement of the use of various pregnancy preventive strategies has the potential to reduce poverty. It is imperative to develop adaptive systems to provide ongoing contraceptive services, by implementing innovations to sustain demand and supply of family planning services during pandemics.