On 30 October 2014, the 57th National Council on Health in Nigeria approved the “Task Shifting and Sharing Policy for Essential Health Services,” which was coordinated by Departments of Planning Research and Statistics and of Family Health in the Ministry of Health, with technical input from many partner organizations. This process began in 2012 with the policy allowing Community Health Extension Workers (CHEWS) to provide injectable contraceptives at the community level.
With the new policy, CHEWS can now provide both contraceptive implants and injectables. CHEWS form the bulk of family planning providers especially in northern Nigeria, and this policy will help improve access and method mix especially of long-acting methods. As a next step, family planning stakeholders will engage and create buy-in and support at the sub-national level and capacity building to ensure operationalization of the new policy.