Background/Objectives
During COVID-19, resources for health funds were diverted to mitigate the impact of the pandemic, which led to a deprioritisation of other health service delivery areas, including reproductive health services. For example, The Lagos family planning (FP) funds expended in 2020 represented 6.3% of the total FP budget allocation to the Ministry of Health (MoH) and Primary Health Care Board (PHCB), which led to reduced FP service delivery outputs.
E4A provides technical support to build and strengthen capacity of the Lagos State Accountability Mechanism (LASAM)- a multistakeholder platform that brings together government, civil society organisations, the media and implementing partners - to analyse and simplify data that policy-makers can use in their planning and decision-making processes to improve RMNCAH and FP service outcomes.
Methods
E4A built LASAM's capacity to analyse health budget performance as well as service delivery data on RMNCAH and FP. This enabled LASAM to present the evidence in easily accessible scorecards to identified key stakeholders in targeted advocacy efforts (in-person and use of social media). LASAM also used the this evidence to engage in the State's 2021 budget planning processes.
Results
The 2021 scorecard shows a significant increase in FP expenditure from 6.3% in 2020 to 70.1% in 2021. The facilities providing FP services that experienced FP commodity stock outs reduced from 1.0% in 2020 to 0.7% in 2021 while the public health facilities providing FP services increased from 85.8% in 2020 to 89.5% in 2021. In addition, facilities providing FP services through health workers that are trained in using the Commodity Logistics Management System increased from 10.36% in 2020 to 67.7% in 2021.
Conclusions
Building partnerships to amplify voices on evidence-based advocacy creates a platform for holding policy stakeholders accountable for delivering on their FP promises and for taking actions that improve health outcomes for targeted beneficiaries.
