What do you think are the reasons of high unmet need of FP in the Philippines?
- I think the reasons for the high unmet need for Family planning in the Philippines are the lack of proper knowledge about family planning, inaccessibility to the common Filipino people most especially to the marginalized sector, and the stigmas surrounding family planning. Many women are still not aware of modern methods of family planning like the use of contraceptives. Moreover, women still rely on the traditional family planning methods without knowing that there are modern family planning methods that increase the rate of effectiveness in order to prevent unwanted/unintended pregnancies. In addition, the modern family planning method is not readily accessible by the people, especially those who are unprivileged. Contraceptives and other family planning methods are expensive and not affordable by the common Filipinos.
The Philippines is a conservative country in which the topic of sex and reproductive health is still considered taboo. With this, there are stigmas surrounding family planning which affect people most especially women. Using contraceptives is deemed to be wrong in which women who use them are labeled as "prostitutes", "slut", and many derogatory words. Because of this, women are scared to use contraceptives to avoid being called these negative names.
What are ways you can suggest to increase the practice of FP in the country? Give least 1-2 suggestions.
- I think that conducting health education about family planning and making family planning accessible to the public is a good move to increase the practice of Family in the country.
- Health Education - Proper education will help the people be acquainted with the different family planning methods. They will learn more and have enough knowledge about the various methods of family planning so that they may have options. Moreover, some of their wrong beliefs can be corrected with the conduct of proper health education. Furthermore, proper education should be strengthened in order to stop the stigmas surrounding family planning.
- Accessibility - Make various family planning methods be readily available in the community setting like giving free contraceptives and condoms. Barangay healthcare centers can be used as a distribution hub in order to reach the people. In 2017, the Philippines started giving free contraceptives to the public after Duterte signed an executive order to distribute contraceptives to Filipino women.
Reference:
BBC News. (2017). Philippines' President Duterte pushes free contraceptives. https://www.bbc.com/news/world-asia-38591581
Nagai M, Bellizzi S, Murray J, Kitong J, Cabral EI, et al. (2019) Opportunities lost: Barriers to increasing the use of effective contraception in the Philippines. PLOS ONE 14(7): e0218187. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218187