INFLUENCE OF FAMILY PLANNING RADIO PROGRAMME ON YOUNG COUPLES

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1            BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

Well-designed mass-media campaigns have proved their ability to increase the use of family planning in Nigeria. Between 1985 and 1988, television promotion of family planning in the cities of Ilorin, Ibadan, and Enugu helped increase the numbers of new and continuing contraceptive users (Piotrow et al., 1990). After the campaign, the number of new clients had almost quintupled in Ilorin, tripled in Ibadan, and more than doubled in Enugu. About half of respondents surveyed reported having seen the family planning messages on television; of these viewers, more than two-thirds recalled the specific clinics promoted. In Borno State, meanwhile, a mass-media campaign involving radio, television, print materials, and an advocacy forum with religious leaders showed similar results. The number of first-time users in sentinel clinics rose by 24 percent over pre-campaign levels, and the number of continuing users rose 37 percent (Kiragu and Omotara, 1992). Research in other African countries confirms the strong association between exposure to family planning messages and contraceptive use. According to data from the 1989 Demographic and Health Survey (DHS) in Kenya, women who were exposed to mass-media messages were more likely than their peers who had not been exposed to use family planning and to use a modern method (Westoff and Rodriguez, 1995). Nonusers who had been exposed to family planning messages were more likely to report that they intended to use contraception in the future. Massmedia exposure was also associated with a desire to space or to limit pregnancies. DHS data from Nigeria report similar findings. The 1990 survey found that ever-use of contraceptives was 8.2 percentage points higher among women who were exposed to family planning messages than among their unexposed counterparts. The gap was even greater, fully 10 percentage points, for current use of contraceptives. As for nonusers, 37 percent of those exposed to family planning messages said that they intended to use contraceptives, compared with only 19 percent of nonusers who had not seen or heard the messages (Bankole et al., 1993). Nigeria is a well-recognized economic and political force in Africa, and, with a population of 98.1 million people, it is the most populous nation on the African continent (PRB, 1994). Because the mass media are fairly widespread in Nigeria, they are an important vehicle for disseminating information about family planning to this large population. Nigeria has 31 daily newspapers, 81 radio transmitters, and 61 television transmitters. There are 171 radios and 27 televisions per 1,000 population—higher ratios than in most sub-Saharan African countries (United Nations, 1992). A survey of predominantly urban areas found that nearly 90 percent of all households have radios and 60 percent own television sets (RMS, 1990). Since almost every state has its own radio and television stations, it is possible to broadcast on a regional as well as a national basis. The Nigeria Television Authority (NTA) is the primary national television station, with affiliates in each state. The affiliates broadcast national programs such as the news from NTA in addition to their own local programming.

1.2            STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

Family planning services are the ability of individuals and couples to anticipate and attain their desired number of children and the spacing and timing of their births. It is achieved through use of contraceptive methods and the treatment of involuntary infertility.several method have been used to educate women on the use and importance of family planning , however this information seems to not have gone far as many couples could still be seen with more than four children which poses the question, do these people know about family planning at all?.several mass media channels have been used to disseminate information on family planning such as the television, newspaper, radio, social media among many others. However our main focus is radio as a means of disseminating information on family planning, to check if its influence is effective or not. Many women , especially the ones in the rural areas do not have radio and even the ones that have radio do not know the time and date these programmes is been aired, many women are also afraid of using family planning because of the perceived side effect, these among many more will be discussed in the study

1.3            OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY

The primary objective of the study is as follows

1.       To find out what family planning is all about

2.       To find out if the use of radio in disseminating information on family planning is effective

3.       To examine if couples actually have access to radio and also know the time and day these programme is been aired

4.       To examine how to improve the awareness of family planning using radio stations

1.4            RESEARCH QUESTIONS

The following questions have been prepared for the study

1)      What is family planning all about?

2)      Has  radio stations been effective in disseminating information on family planning?

3)      Do couples actually have access to radio and also know the time and day these programme is been aired?

4)      Can there be improvement in the awareness of family planning using radio stations?

1.5            Significance of the study

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

The significance of this study cannot be underestimated as:

l  This study will examine the influence of family planning radio programme on young couples

l  The findings of this research work will undoubtedly provide the much needed information to government organizations, ministry of health and academia

1.6            SCOPE OF THE STUDY

This study will examine influence of family planning radio programme on young couples. Hence, it will be delimited to Oshogbo in Osun state.

1.7            LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

This study was constrained by a number of factors which are as follows:

 just like any other research, ranging from unavailability of needed accurate materials on the topic under study, inability to get data

Financial constraint , was faced by  the researcher ,in getting relevant materials  and  in printing and collation of questionnaires

Time factor: time factor pose another constraint since having to shuttle between writing of the research and also engaging in other academic work making it uneasy for the researcher

1.8            DEFINITION OF TERMS

Family planning: the practice of controlling the number of children one has and the intervals between their births, particularly by means of contraception or voluntary sterilization.

Radio programme: radio programme, or radio show is a segment of content intended for broadcast on radio.