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What do you think are the reasons for the high unmet need of FP in the Philippines?
I personally believe that the reasons for the high unmet need of family planning in the Philippines is due to the lack of proper client education, specifically, sex education. According to a study by Biddlecom, Casterline, and Perez (1997), the factors affecting the high unmet need of FP in the Philippines include the strength of women's reproductive preferences, husbands' fertility preferences, and the perceived detrimental side effects of contraception. A lot of people are afraid of the possible side effects of family planning methods. For example, using birth control pills may have side effects such as irregularity of menstrual period, nausea, headache and migraines, weight gain, and mood changes, to list a few. (Birth Control Pill: Side Effects, Risks, Alternatives, and the Shot, n.d.) Along with the listed reasons, I believe that personal hesitancy is also one of the reasons why Filipinos tend to decline family planning methods.
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What are ways you can suggest to increase the practice of FP in the country? Give at least 1-2 suggestions.
My suggestion is to increase the access to family planning information, including proper sex education in our curriculum. A lot of people do not know the importance of family planning and the use of contraceptive methods, so they tend to avoid it completely or not even consider it even if they are accessible. Moreover, they tend to be ashamed that they are resorting to this method because of the stigma linked with it. If we are to reach majority of the population with proper sex education, Filipinos would be reconsidering their choices and make use of their accessible resources. It should be clearly explained that sex education is not about teaching adolescents how to do it, but about how to always be safe and the consequences linked with it if we are not careful enough.
Biddlecom, A. E., Casterline, J. B., & Perez, A. E. (1997). Factors underlying unmet need for family planning in the Philippines. Studies in family planning, 28(3), 173–191.