- What do you think are the reasons of high unmet need of FP in the Philippines?
As a developing country, a number of factors contribute to the high unmet need of family planning in the Philippines. One of the main reasons for the high unmet need of family planning is the poor and ineffective implementation of reproductive health and family planning services. Despite the Reproductive Health Law having been passed, it has not been uniformly implemented across the country due to the varying degrees of local officials’ political will to execute its provisions. This results in unequal access to family planning services, with remote areas bearing the brunt of the burden.
In relation to this, we can see how religious beliefs have strongly influenced the perception of the general public with regard to the passing of the RH Law. This may particularly be due to the fact that majority of the Philippine population are Catholics who highly value the philosophies of the Church. As such, the use of modern contraceptives remains a taboo as this is not aligned with the Church’s teaching on sexuality which insists that all intentionally sought sexual pleasure outside marriage is gravely sinful, and that every act of sexual intercourse within marriage must be procreative.
In a 1997 study, some other factors that significantly contribute to the high unmet need of family planning in the Philippines were revealed. These underlying factors include the inaccurate measurement of fertility preferences and contraceptive practice, weakly held fertility preferences, and women perceiving themselves to be at low risk of conceiving. If examined closely, it can be noticed that these factors center upon the lack of appropriate reproductive health education and awareness among the general public. Aside from these, another factor revealed by the study was the excessive costs of contraception. It is evident how this factor continues to persist in our society because even though contraception has long been available in the Philippines for middle-class and upper-class women as a result of the RH Law, it is still priced out of reach of the country's poor.
Furthermore, the high unmet need of family planning in the Philippines may also be associated with widespread misinformation. Due to the spread of such false information regarding the side effects of these contraceptives, doubts and fears about contraceptive use may develop. This leads the masses to opt against its use, subsequently leading to the high unmet need of family planning.
- What are ways you can suggest to increase the practice of FP in the country? Give least 1-2 suggestions.
One of the ways I can suggest to increase the practice of family planning in the country emphasizes on strengthening reproductive health and sexuality education. First of all, I believe that sex education must be integrated into the high school curriculum of the Philippines especially since students in the adolescent stage are the ones who are most likely to engage in novel and exciting experiences. In this stage of experimentation, the curiosity about sex is at its peak so adolescents may tend to explore sex in their own ways, leading to undesirable consequences. This accounts for the high rate of teenage pregnancies in the Philippines. Thus, a solid education on reproductive health and sexuality is important in settling their curiosities and in guiding them towards making more informed choices regarding their own reproductive health. Aside from implementing sex education in schools, I also think that government units should take initiative in increasing and improving reproductive health awareness campaigns throughout the country. This could focus on providing basic contraceptive education in order to promote its use and eradicate the misconceptions on the various contraceptives. With proper evidence-based knowledge, people will be more likely to use contraception in preventing unintended pregnancies and limiting family size from getting larger than desired.
Another suggestion is to strengthen the implementation of reproductive health law and its provisions throughout the entire country. This ensures that medically safe, effective, and quality reproductive healthcare services and supplies are accessible to all. With this, I believe that the state must emphasize on lowering, if not totally removing, the costs of reproductive health services and supplies (i.e. contraceptives) in order to cater to low-income households. Besides this, the state must also increase funding for reproductive health services to ensure that sufficient resources and staff are available in providing quality care across healthcare facilities. This includes the hiring and deployment of skilled healthcare workers to marginalized areas and providing them with fair and adequate compensation for their service.
References:
Casterline, J. B., Perez, A. E., & Biddlecom, A. E. (1997). Factors underlying unmet need for family planning in the Philippines. Studies in Family Planning, 28(3), 173–191. https://doi.org/10.2307/2137886
Pazzibugan, D. Z. (2016, November 11). RH Law not evenly implemented, says CHR. INQUIRER.net. Retrieved from https://newsinfo.inquirer.net/843284/rh-law-not-evenly-implemented-says-chr