Nigeria’s first lady Aisha Buhari has urged Africans to change their perception of women’s infertility as an abnormal condition and also desist from attaching stigma to women having the condition.
According to a statement by the first lady’s Special Assistant, Media and Publicity, Aliyu Abdullahi, she made the call during the high-level panel discussion of African First Ladies on the challenges of “Building Healthcare Capacity” on the African Continent.
The event was the sixth edition of MERK AFRICA-ASIA LUMINARY/MORE THAN A MOTHER INITIATIVE” organised for African first ladies which was co-chaired by the first lady of Ghana Madam Rebecca Akufo-Addo, held in Accra, Ghana.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the panel also brought to the fore issues, challenges and solutions of breaking the stigma around women living with infertility.
The first lady expressed her concern on the need for African societies to make progress and change their mindset regarding women with infertile problems.
Mrs Buhari advocated the need for increased women empowerment, counselling and providing medical support to women with infertility problem.
According to her, that would go along way in strengthening the women for a better future.
“I want to use this opportunity to call on African societies to desist from the mindset which tends to see Women’s infertility as an abnormal condition.
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“And the associated stigmatization and abuse that usually characterize such situation that is capable of being addressed through medical healthcare and modern science,” she said.
The first lady said two NGOs, the Aisha Buhari Foundation (ABF) and the Future Assured Programme, have empowered many women through medical support and income-generating activities in Nigeria, inline with her promise during the 2017 edition of MERK Foundation Initiative.
The ABF organised skills acquisition programmes and provided grants of seed capital for micro and small businesses.
”The Aisha Buhari Foundation had specifically identified and empowered more than 200 infertile Women within this period in addition to offering them medical treatment for fertility and providing them with counseling,” she said.
Mrs. Buhari also spoke about the effort of her NGOs in helping to curb the stigmatization, depression, and abuse as well as creating awareness, access to information, Health and ultimately a change of mindset against women with infertility problems.
“We have since built and donated two functional Women Hospitals to two out of Nigeria’s six geopolitical zones with the plans to reach the remaining four geopolitical zones soon.”
NAN
