What do you think are the reasons for high unmet need of FP in the Philippines?
The Philippines has high unmet needs for family planning due to many factors. This includes:
- There is still a stigma in the Philippines about sex and abortion, and premarital sex is still considered taboo because the majority of Filipinos are conservative Catholics. As a result, adolescents are more likely to use their own methods of gathering information, such as surfing the internet without knowing its credibility or accuracy.
- There is discomfort and a lack of professional and formal training in teaching sex also due to sex stigma, personal and religious beliefs.
- Costs, low-quality services, lack of awareness of or access to a source of contraceptive care, and insufficient knowledge about family planning methods are all barriers to poor women with regard to the use of contraceptives. They also tend to have low educational attainment, which limits their knowledge regarding sexuality.
- Lack of access to birth control. The Reproductive Health Law requires parents’ consent before young adolescents below the age of 18 have access to such services. While the law enhanced women's access to birth control, it made it more difficult for teenagers. Moreover, the pandemic has exacerbated the problem. During the lockdown, access to medical facilities was curtailed, and public transportation was unavailable, making birth control more difficult to procure — especially for minors.
What are ways you can suggest to increase the practice of FP in the country? Give at least 1-2 suggestions.
- Sexuality education in schools should be enhanced. This should be aimed at empowering the youth to make informed decisions regarding reproductive and sexual concerns, and also in improving their awareness and debunking myths about the effects of contraception and how it’s properly used. This could have numerous advantages, including postponing sexual engagement, reducing risk-taking, increasing contraception use, and improving attitudes toward sexual and reproductive health. Additionally, this may help to reduce teenage pregnancies and unplanned pregnancies, as well as the transmission of sexually transmitted illnesses, reduce the likelihood of having unsafe sex, and promote responsible family planning.
- To ensure its effectiveness, stigma in sex education should already be minimized, and it should be extended to households. Although the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Law already require public schools to give age-appropriate reproductive health education to adolescents, it must be supplemented by parental education at home.
- Different programs should be established for different age groups and classes, as the needs of certain women may differ from those of others.
- Sex educators need to be well-trained. There should be a formal education or training program for teachers of sexuality in order for them to prevent spreading misconceptions to their students.
References:
Almendral, A. (2020, August 21). Photos: Why the Philippines has so many teen moms. https://www.npr.org/sections/goatsandsoda/2020/08/21/787921856/photos-the-hidden-lives-of-teen-moms
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.
Jaymalin, M. (2019, April 1). Sex discussions still taboo in Filipino homes - Popcom. The Philippine Star. https://www.philstar.com/headlines/2019/04/01/1906327/sex-discussions-still-taboo-filipino-homes-popcom
Latorre, A. A. E. (2019). Factors associated with unmet need for family planning among young women in the Philippines. Philippine Journal of Health Research and Development, 23(2), 10-19.
Nagai, M., Bellizzi, S., Murray, J., Kitong, J., Cabral, EI., & Sobel, HL. (2019) Opportunities lost: Barriers to increasing the use of effective contraception in the Philippines. PLoS ONE 14(7): e0218187. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0218187