MSI Nigeria Reproductive Choices says it is scaling up access to family planning and reproductive health services across the country through direct service delivery, demand generation, and strengthened community partnerships.
Head of Marketing and Communications, Mr. Chibuike Utaka, disclosed this in an interview with journalists on Monday in Abuja.
Utaka said the organization remains committed to providing women and girls with choices that safeguard and meet their reproductive health needs.
He explained that as a leading provider of family planning and reproductive health services, MSI Nigeria operates six model medical centres and supports about 6,000 public health facilities across the country.
“We also have 34 mobile outreach teams and over 600 ‘MS Ladies’—often retired nurses and midwives—stationed in hard-to-reach communities to ensure women everywhere have access to quality reproductive health services,” he said.
Utaka noted that health promotion and demand generation are central to MSI’s work, combining advocacy, community mobilization, and media engagement.
“Without demand generation, it would be difficult to deliver services. That is why we work closely with religious leaders, traditional rulers, and policymakers to challenge negative norms and promote acceptance of reproductive health choices across communities,” he added.
He identified negative social and cultural norms as some of the biggest barriers to the uptake of reproductive health services in Nigeria.
“Negative gender, cultural, and religious norms are not things you can change overnight. They take time. But through behavioral change communication and other health promotion interventions, we are gradually driving positive shifts,” he said.
Utaka said the organization had intensified awareness campaigns on gender and social norms this year, deploying various strategies to address them.
“As part of our efforts, we plan to train about 3,000 religious and traditional leaders to help change harmful gender and cultural practices,” he added.
He explained that the training would equip community leaders with tools to challenge misconceptions and promote positive messages in mosques, churches, and community gatherings.
Utaka reaffirmed MSI Nigeria Reproductive Choices’ commitment to working with government institutions, community structures, and the media to strengthen health systems and expand access to sexual and reproductive health services for women and girls.
He also revealed that MSI Nigeria, which began operations in 2009 at the invitation of the Federal Ministry of Health, has consistently partnered with government to advance reproductive health policies.
“This year alone, we have contributed to at least three national and state-level policy developments,” Utaka said.
