What do you think are the reasons of high unmet need of FP in the Philippines?
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, 37% of all births in the Philippines are and unwanted and 53% of all births are considered as unintended. With the National Family Planning Program providing modern contraception and education to Filipinos, these rates are considered to be high. Although there are programs and services available to decrease the prevalence of unwanted pregnancies, there are still plenty of incidents per year. Casterline et al., (1997) listed several factors that explain the number of unmet needs for Family Planning. The first factor is that women with unmet need for family planning consider themselves as being at low risk of conceiving a child. This persuades them that using contraceptives is unnecessary and a waste of money. A second factor is that there are weakly held fertility preferences of women who have unmet need of family planning. Non-users of contraceptives expressed that they have never really thought abot their fertility preferences or their desire to have children. A smaller part of the non-users also stated that pregnacy as often unavoidable. This leads us to a third factor which is the lack of knowledge when it comes to the methods of contraception. Although there is a law that guarantees the availability of contraceptives, many still do not know how to obtian them. Some of them also don’t know how to use contraceptives and there are those that fear the effects of contraceptives on their health. A fourth factor is the use of contraception viewed as socially and culturally unacceptable. Since the Philippines is a conservative country because of religion, contraceptives are viewed by the church as “instrinctically evil”. The last and a significant factor is also the objection of the partner, more commonly the husband, to the use of contraceptives due to discomfort of usage and the costs of availing them.
What are ways you can suggest to increase the practice of FP in the country? Give least 1-2 suggestions.
1. Increase demand for family planning services – By increasing knowledge on family planning by advertising through infographics, brochures, and leaflets and even in radios and televisions, more people will inquire for services
2. Introduce other types of contraceptives – There are a lot of contraceptive methods. The commonly distributed contraceptives may not be used by some people as they are not comfortable with it, but there must be one method that suits their preferences and so we need to make all types of contraceptives available as much as possible.
3. Expand the access of contraceptives – Availing for contraceptives in local health centers may be inconvenient to others, to some even embarrassing. Expanding contraceptive access like having more sales outlet for easier accessibility can increase the use of contraceptives.
4. Reach out to the appropriate population – In order to provide family planning, we must know who our target population is, and so by reaching out to those who are either fertile, sexually active, currently pregnant, and those who already have children and providing them with relevant information on family planning will encourage them to practice family planning more in the future.
5. Train healthcare providers – A good counselor and teacher on family planning will effectively persuade people’s interest in practicing family planning and usage of contraceptives.
REFERENCES
Casterline, J., Perez, A., & Biddlecom, A. (1997). Factors Underlying Unmet Need for Family Planning in the Philippines. Studies in Family Planning, 173-191.
Malhorta, V., & Bhat, S. (2014). Strategies for family planning going forward - Social marketing & expanding contraceptive choices package. Indian J Med Researh.
PSA. (n.d.). One in three births in the Philippines is unplanned. Retrieved from Philippine Statistics Authority: https://psa.gov.ph/article/one-three-births-philippines-unplanned