Society for Family Health, Nigeria

13/10/2026

13/10/2026

Every year on October 11, the world marks the International Day of the Girl Child, a day set aside by the United Nations to recognise the rights of girls and to draw attention to the unique challenges they face. This year's theme, "End child marriage and invest in girls' rights!" is a call to protect girls from early marriage and to ensure they have the education, opportunities, and legal protection they need to thrive.
In commemoration of the day, Society for Family Health (SFH), in collaborative partnership with Trove Schools, Ilorin, and the Kwara State Ministry of Education, hosted an impactful event designed to empower and inspire young girls.
SFH, committed to improving the health and well-being of Nigerians, led an engaging health talk for the girls. The session focused on reinforcing body autonomy, building self-esteem, and highlighting the importance of protecting and investing in every girl's educational and legal rights. By equipping the girls with knowledge and confidence, SFH helped them understand that they have a voice and that their rights and futures are worth defending.
The undisputed highlight of the celebration was an energetic spelling bee competition that showcased the brilliant academic talents of the participants. To celebrate their hard work and excellence, the winner, first runner-up, and second runner-up were presented with special educational gifts, generously provided courtesy of the Kwara AYP team of the GF NTHRIP Project.
The event was a vibrant reminder that when girls are educated, informed, and supported, they grow into empowered women who transform their families and communities.

13/10/2026

Society for Family Health, Nigeria (SFH) is proud to announce that three abstracts from the IntegratE Project have been accepted for presentation at the 32nd Canadian Conference on Global Health (CCGH 2026), taking place 16–18 October in Montreal, Canada, and online.

The presentations will spotlight evidence-driven approaches to integrating private health providers into social health insurance, addressing gender barriers in family planning service delivery, and engaging male advocates to shift social norms in Northern Nigeria.

This milestone reinforces SFH commitment to strengthening Nigeria’s private health sector, advancing universal health coverage, and expanding access to family planning through practical, evidence-based solutions.
We look forward to sharing insights from Nigeria’s experience and contributing to global conversations on health equity.

Learn more: https://cagh-acsm.org/ccgh/

09/10/2026

We visited communities across Lafia, Nasarawa State, to hear from community members and healthcare providers about how people access essential healthcare services and how referrals connect them to the appropriate care.

Watch to learn how CPs, PPMVs and PHCs support women, children and families, and the role they play in strengthening community-level healthcare delivery.

08/10/2026

As a global implementing partner advancing sexual and reproductive health and rights, Society for Family Health (SFH) continues to contribute evidence, expertise, and practical lessons to global efforts to expand access to innovative reproductive health products, while providing technical support to governments to strengthen health systems and improve access to quality reproductive health services.

SFH was well represented at the H-IUD Access Group Global Meeting in Nairobi. Since 2015, the Access Group Secretariat, co-led by FHI 360 and the Clinton Health Access Initiative (CHAI), has supported national governments interested in learning more about the hormonal IUD (H-IUD), planning for its introduction, and scaling up the method through knowledge generation and exchange, technical assistance, and proactive management of market challenges.
The meeting brought together members, manufacturers, donors, and implementing NGOs funded to support governments in introducing the hormonal IUD. It provided a platform to address in-country operational challenges, share experiences, and track progress in H-IUD introduction across countries.
SFH disseminated findings from the four-year Research on Scale-up of Hormonal IUD in New and Emerging Markets (SHINE) project and discussed SFH contributions to market shaping and the introduction of new reproductive health products in Nigeria and globally.

Led by the Associate Director, Programme Management Unit, Dr Eze Nwokoma, SFH participated in the panel session, “Where Does H-IUD Introduction Stand Today?” During the session, SFH shared lessons from its experiences and provided recommendations to countries at the pre-introduction stage.
The meeting also provided an opportunity for SFH to engage with global stakeholders and partners working in the H-IUD space, creating opportunities for networking, knowledge exchange, and future collaboration, particularly in H-IUD scale-up and the management of Heavy Menstrual Bleeding.

By sharing learning from Nigeria and engaging with partners across the H-IUD landscape, SFH is helping strengthen country readiness, inform effective scale-up approaches, and advance access to quality reproductive health options for women and girls.

07/10/2026

Since 2022, over 600,000 women and children under five in Kano State have accessed essential healthcare services through the IntegratE Project, including family planning, treatment for malaria, pneumonia and other childhood illnesses, with almost 100,000 first-time users, while an estimated 20,000 unintended pregnancies were averted with Kano's modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) increased from 5.8% to 10.8%.
The project also trained 988 community pharmacists and Patent and Proprietary Medicine Vendors (PPMVs) across the state, strengthening the capacity of community-based providers to offer family planning services and contribute to primary healthcare delivery, with 232,219 women accessing FP services and 372,000 Children Under 5 being seen for various PHC services by trained CPs and PPMVs

These gains were highlighted at the IntegratE Project dissemination and close-out event in Kano State, where stakeholders reflected on the project's contribution to expanding access to family planning and primary healthcare services through the private sector. The intervention recognised that for many families, particularly those in underserved communities, community pharmacists and PPMVs are among the first and most accessible points of contact with the healthcare system. Through training and support, providers were equipped to offer family planning information, counselling and commodities, identify and appropriately manage or refer common childhood illnesses, and support tuberculosis screening and referral.

Speaking at the event, Kano State Commissioner for Health, Dr Abubakar Labaran Yusuf, highlighted the broader contribution of the intervention to the State's family planning agenda. He noted that Kano's modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) increased from 5.8% to 10.8%, and acknowledged the important role SFH's IntegratE Project played in this progress. He further emphasised the importance of ensuring that the trained community pharmacists and PPMVs remain integrated into the healthcare system and continue to serve communities beyond the project period.

For the Gates Foundation, the Kano experience demonstrates the value of investing in community-level private providers as part of a broader health system. Representing the Foundation, Dr Shamsudeen Sani noted that the project had helped women access family planning services in Kano, contributing to preventing about 20,000 unintended pregnancies. He also highlighted the project's contribution to expanding access to primary healthcare services for children under five.

For Society for Family Health (SFH), the achievements in Kano build on nearly three decades of partnership with the State. Speaking at the event, Dayyabu Mahmud Yusuf, Group Director, SFH, reflected on SFH longstanding work across HIV, tuberculosis, malaria, maternal and child health, family planning and health-system strengthening. Through IntegratE, SFH and its partners worked with regulatory institutions, including the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, to strengthen the training, accreditation, supervision and integration of community pharmacists and PPMVs into the wider health system. The project has also generated evidence on how private-sector community providers can help expand access to essential health services when they are appropriately trained, regulated, supervised and connected to functional referral pathways.

Read More here:
https://sfhnigeria.org/blog/kano-state-reaches-10-8-mcpr-as-integrate-strengthens-family-planning-access

05/10/2026

Preventable maternal deaths remain one of Nigeria's most pressing health challenges, and the quality of care a mother receives is shaped long before she reaches a facility: in the classroom, where a midwife or nurse first learns the skills to save lives.
That is why Society for Family Health (SFH), through the RMNCEAH Projects, is investing in the lecturers and tutors who prepare the next generation of health workers.

Working with the Federal Ministry of Health and Social Welfare, the Nursing and Midwifery Council of Nigeria (NMCN), and the Community Health Practitioners Registration Board of Nigeria (CHPRBN), SFH conducted a Training of Trainers (TOT) for lecturers and tutors from colleges of nursing and colleges of health in Jigawa and Nasarawa States. The Jigawa and Nasarawa State Ministries of Health and Primary Health Care Development Agencies also supported the process.
Participants strengthened their technical knowledge in Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH), Maternal, Newborn, and Child Health (MNCH), and Long-Acting Reversible Contraception (LARC), alongside their teaching and mentorship skills and their ability to integrate evidence-based practice into pre-service education.
A central focus was the institutionalisation of Counselling for Choice (C4C) and other high-impact practices. By embedding these competencies in training institutions, the initiative ensures that future health workers graduate ready to deliver respectful, informed, adolescent-responsive, and quality reproductive, maternal, and newborn health services.

The impact will extend well beyond this cohort. The training expands the pool of master trainers who can cascade these competencies to other educators and health workers, creating a multiplier effect across states and facilities. A similar TOT for participants from Kano and Kaduna States, supported by their State Ministries of Health and Primary Health Care Development Agencies, was held in Abuja in June, extending the network of master trainers across all four states.

Ultimately, better maternal health begins not only in the hospital but also in the classroom, where tomorrow's health workers acquire the knowledge, skills, and values they will carry into the communities they serve.
Every health worker trained is an investment in quality care, and every mother deserves the chance to survive and thrive.

9ja Girls

02/10/2026

Society for Family Health (SFH) will join global leaders at the International Water Association (IWA) World Water Congress & Exhibition 2026 in Glasgow, United Kingdom, strengthening its voice in global conversations on water security, climate resilience and sustainable development.
SFH will be represented by its Group Chief Executive Officer, Dr Omokhudu Idogho, alongside Dennis Aizobu, Managing Director, SFH ACCESS and Adizue Jane, Project Director, TB, WASH and Corporate Philanthropy.

Under the theme “Water action: the path to resilience and prosperity,” the Congress brings together leaders, practitioners, researchers and policymakers to advance solutions for a more water-secure future. SFH participation reflects its commitment to contributing evidence, experience and innovative approaches from Nigeria to the global WASH agenda.

Date: 4–8 October 2026
Venue: Scottish Event Campus (SEC), Glasgow, UK
Theme: “Water action: the path to resilience and prosperity”

01/10/2026

As we mark another year of independence, we honour the generations whose courage and determination helped shape Nigeria, while recognising the responsibility we all share in building a healthier, stronger, and more prosperous nation.
Happy Independence Day

01/10/2026

Happy Independence Day, Nigeria!

Our October edition of Beyond Boundaries is out, themed "Closer to Communities: Removing Barriers, Expanding Choices, Sustaining Impact".

Inside this edition:
✅ World Contraception Day 2026: how the DISC and A360 projects marked the day across Nigerian states, with radio phone-ins, town halls, an awareness march and free outreach. Plus a short video of a satisfied DMPA-SC user sharing why she made her choice.
✅ Closing chapters, lasting impact: IntegratE ends after nine years across 11 states, reaching over 3 million women and children. CARE-2 closes after seven years across ten states in Northern Nigeria, with 42,794 clients on treatment.
✅ Evidence in action: SFH shares Nigeria's experience on the hormonal IUD and market shaping in Nairobi.
✅ In case you missed it: ...and a lot more.

Happy Independence Day, Nigeria! Today Nigeria turns 66. We celebrate a nation of resilient families, determined communities, and health workers who show up every day, often in the hardest places to reach.