The Nigerian government has reduced its family planning budget for 2025, raising concerns about how the country will sustain access to reproductive health services for millions of citizens amidst a global decline in donor funding.
In the 2025 budget, N66.39 million was allocated for family planning, a 97 per cent decrease from the N2.2 billion allocated in 2024.
This budget cut comes as the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) froze funding support for key health initiatives in developing countries, including family planning programs in Nigeria. The funding pause followed a directive from President Donald Trump shortly after his inauguration in January 2025.
The Nigerian government has not provided an official reason for reducing funding for family planning. Repeated efforts to get a response from the health ministry were unsuccessful. Other ministry officials referred this reporter to the ministry’s Director of Family Health, Binyerem Ukaire. However, in response to our enquiries, Ms Ukaire said, “To get a reaction from the government, you need to go through the right channel.”
This drop in funding could reverse the progress made over the years for a country with one of the highest maternal death rates in the world, where many deaths are preventable with timely access to contraception and quality care.
The United Nations recently warned that global reductions in health aid could reverse decades of progress in tackling maternal mortality.
In a report titled Trends in Maternal Mortality, released ahead of the 2025 World Health Day, the UN attributed the 40 per cent global decline in maternal deaths between 2000 and 2023 to improved access to critical health services.
Nigeria, according to the report, had the highest estimated number of maternal deaths in 2020, accounting for more than one-quarter (28.5 per cent) of the global total, with approximately 82,000 maternal deaths recorded.
