Thanks Steve and Ricky for your interesting and personal posts. To my knowledge the Reproductive Health Bill has not been discussed here until recently, despite it being a decade old.
What shocks me is that the 2011 Family Health Survey estimates 11 women die every day in the Philippines from preventable complications arising from pregnancy and childbirth. Family planning supplies such as condoms, intrauterine devices, birth control pills, and other contraceptives would help - the government has allocated P 500 million for nationwide distribution. It’s also recognised that access in rural areas to modern maternal healthcare systems needs improving. Fewer pregnancies, better nutrition and access to healthcare, and more births attended by skilled birth attendants would all help reduce maternal mortality to the country’s target rate.
The Philippines’ population growth rate of about 2% is one of the highest in Asia . Understandably, a fully comprehensive reproductive health policy and access to family planning education and services may not be possible for financial reasons. I’ve made clear before – politics and religion are not my fields of expertise and I try not to be judgemental. However, it’s sad when they get in the way of the obvious need to improve health of mums and kids - of importance to us ALL.
