Forbidden pleasure

BEHIND THE SCENES

Alfred P. Dizon

BAGUIO CITY --- Whether we like it or not, my favorite bubwit says, population is rising because people love to engage in “forbidden pleasure” as tagged by medieval moralists. And with pleasure, he adds, comes added responsibility -- or even death.

Indeed, it is alarming that in Cordillera, based on 2009 data, 79 women out of 100,000 died as a result of pregnancy and childbirth, according to the Commission on Population and Department of Health.

           

In a media forum in observance of World Population Day, Cordillera health officials said there was need for universal access to reproductive health services or more women and children would die.

           

According to Commission on Population technical division officer May Cerezo, there were 41,187 sexually active women of reproductive age in Cordillera who wanted to avoid or delay their pregnancy but didn’t as a result of not having health services.

           

DOH-Cordillera family planning coordinator Dr. Mary Jane Muñoz also disclosed the region posted a 33 percent contraceptive prevalence rate for women 15 to 49 years old who used modern contraceptive methods -- way below the 38 percent target this year and 60 percent over-all target by 2015 under government’s millennium development goal.

           

According to Munoz, health officials are moving to reduce child/neonatal and maternal mortality. In the Cordillera there were reportedly 46 neonatal and 16 maternal deaths recorded in 2011.

           

On population growth, National Statistics Office regional director Olivia Gulla disclosed that based on their 2010 census on population and housing, the Philippine population stands at over 92.3 million and is growing at a rate of 1.9 percent or around two people per 100 population.

           

Locally, the population in Cordillera stands at around 1.6 million and with almost the same growth rate of 1.92 percent, she added.

           

Cerezo added the DOH and PopCom, in coordination with other government line agencies,  are now concentrating on person or family needs in terms of family planning and reproductive health services, focusing on the poor household beneficiaries of the government’s conditional cash transfer (CCT) program.

She said current family planning policy of the country is defined by principles of informed choice, respect of life, proper birth spacing and responsible parenthood. 

           

The officials said they conduct family development sessions in communities to push more awareness and utilization of FP and RH services that government is or making available down to poor communities.

           

Meanwhile, the RH bill is still pending in Congress, even as more women and children are dying due to lack or limited access to reproductive health services.