What do you think are the reasons of high unmet need of FP in the Philippines?
Some reasons for the high unmet need of family planning (FP) in the Philippines include the following barriers:
- Social Norms: Virginity and marriage are highly valued in the country, which discourages individuals from admitting sexual activity and inappropriate health concerns, thereby preventing them, especially adolescents and unmarried women, from accessing family planning methods and services.
- Religious Beliefs: Conservative religious beliefs influence the delivery of contraceptive information and services recommended by the World Health Organization (WHO) to adolescents, making these components of reproductive health more restrictive. Moreover, healthcare providers who are members of the church may also be pressured not to dispense contraceptive methods.
- Health Effects Concerns: Lack of knowledge, misconceptions, or assumptions regarding the side effects and health risks of family planning methods may intimidate individuals and prevent them from using it. Additionally, unpleasant previous experiences of oneself or of others also lead to the unmet need of family planning. Some concerns women have regarding family planning include possible changes in menstrual pattern, sterility, or other health problems.
- Inaccessibility: The lack of funds to afford appropriate/desired family planning methods together with the great distances from health facilities offering reproductive health services hinder individuals from accessing family planning methods.
- Parental Consent: The Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law (RPRH Law) requires parental consent for minors who wish to access contraceptives. This directly hinders adolescents from utilizing this type of family planning method and will likely contribute to unsafe sex and the risks that come with it.
What are ways you can suggest to increase the practice of FP in the country?
In order to increase the practice of family planning in the Philippines, one of the very first things we must do is to destigmatize it. This may be achieved spontaneously with raising awareness regarding the methods, importance, and safety of family planning. Having conversations involving reproductive health not only fills the community’s gaps in knowledge but also encourages them to talk about their own experiences and problems. This promotes health-seeking behaviors on reproductive health, including the initiative to know more about and apply appropriate family planning methods.
In addition to the destigmatization and dissemination of reproductive health information, accessibility should also be considered to increase its practice. This comes in the form of available cost-effective contraceptives and nearby health facilities that offer reproductive health services.
The youth should also be granted opportunities to access appropriate reproductive health information and services. According to the 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS), 32% of Filipino youth aged 15-24 has engaged in pre-marital sex, which is 9% higher than the previous 2002 survey. 78% of these encounters were done without protective contraception, thereby increasing their risks of pregnancy and/or sexually-transmitted infections. Instead of restricting the information and services available to the youth, it is more beneficial to equip them with the essential resources to make safer, informed choices.
References
More Pinoy youth engage in risky sexual activities, survey confirms. (2013). Philippine Council for Health Research and Development. https://www.pchrd.dost.gov.ph/index.php/events/3896-more-pinoy-youth-engage-in-risky-sexual-activities-survey-confirms
Nagai, M., Bellizzi, S., Murray, J., Kitong, J., Cabral, E. I., & Sobel, H. L. (2019). Opportunities lost: Barriers to increasing the use of effective contraception in the Philippines. PLOS One, 14(7), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0218187
Sedgh, G., Ashford, L. S., Hussain, R. (2016). Unmet need for contraception in developing countries: Examining women’s reasons for not using a method. Guttmacher Institute. https://www.guttmacher.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/unmet-need-for-contraception-in-developing-countries-report.pdf