Effect of COVID-19 pandemic on provision of sexual and reproductive health services in primary health facilities in Nigeria: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Nigeria, like many other countries, has been severely affected by the COVID-19 pandemic. While efforts have been devoted to curtailing the disease, a major concern has been its potential effects on the delivery and utilization of reproductive health care services in the country. The objective of the study was to investigate the extent to which the COVID-19 pandemic and related lockdowns had affected the provision of essential reproductive, maternal, child, and adolescent health (RMCAH) services in primary health care facilities across the Nigerian States. METHODS: This was a cross-sectional study of 307 primary health centres (PHCs) in 30 Local Government Areas in 10 States, representing the six geopolitical regions of the country. A semi-structured interviewer-administered questionnaire was used to obtain data on issues relating to access and provision of RMCAH services before, during and after COVID-19 lockdowns from the head nurses/midwives in the facilities. The questionnaire was entered into Open Data Kit mounted on smartphones. Data were analysed using frequency and percentage, summary statistics, and Kruskal–Wallis test. RESULTS: Between 76 and 97% of the PHCS offered RMCAH services before the lockdown. Except in antenatal, delivery and adolescent care, there was a decline of between 2 and 6% in all the services during the lockdown and up to 10% decline after the lockdown with variation across and within States. During the lockdown. Full-service delivery was reported by 75.2% whereas 24.8% delivered partial services. There was a significant reduction in clients’ utilization of the services during the lockdown, and the difference between States before the pandemic, during, and after the lockdown. Reported difficulties during the lockdown included stock-out of drugs (25.7%), stock-out of contraceptives (25.1%), harassment by the law enforcement agents (76.9%), and transportation difficulties (55.8%). Only 2% of the PHCs reported the availability of gowns, 18% had gloves, 90.1% had hand sanitizers, and a temperature checker was available in 94.1%. Slightly above 10% identified clients with symptoms of COVID-19. CONCLUSIONS: The large proportion of PHCs who provided RMCAH services despite the lockdown demonstrates resilience. Considering the several difficulties reported, and the limited provision of primary protective equipment more effort by the government and non-governmental agencies is recommended to strengthen delivery of sexual and reproductive health in primary health centres in Nigeria during the pandemic. SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION: The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s12978-021-01217-5.