Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Health in The Philippines Responsibilities and Realities
Health in The Philippines Responsibilities and Realities
Elizabeth Angsioco
National Chairperson
Democratic Socialist Women of the Philippines (DSWP)
- is a state of complete physical, mental & social well-being & not merely the
absence of disease or infirmity, in all matters relating to the reproductive system &
to its functions and processes. (WHO & ICPD)
RH implies that:
People are able to have a satisfying and safe sex life; &
They have the capability to reproduce; &
The freedom to decide if, when & how often to do so.
Rights of women & men to be informed & to have access to safe, effective,
affordable & acceptable family planning methods of their choice, as well as
other methods for regulation of fertility WHICH ARE NOT AGAINST THE
LAW;
The right to access to appropriate health care services that will enable
women to go safely through pregnancy & childbirth & provide couples
with the best chance of having a healthy infant.
also includes sexual health, the purpose of which is the enhancement of life
& personal relations, & not merely counseling & care related to
reproduction & STDs.
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE PHILIPPINES: RESPONSIBILITIES AND REALITIES
Written by: Elizabeth Angsioco, National Chair, DSWP
for the forum “The Reproductive Health Bill & Its Relevance to Filipino Workers”
11 September 2008, Adarna Food & Culture, Quezon City - 2 -
Family Planning
Maternal & Child Health & Nutrition
Prevention & Management of Abortion Complications
Prevention & Treatment of RTIs including STIs & HIV & AIDS
Education & Counseling on Sexuality & Sexual Health
Breast & Reproductive Tract Cancers & other Gynecologic Conditions
Men’s Role & Participation
Adolescent RH
VAW
Prevention & Treatment of Infertility & Sexual Disorders
Art. II. Sec. 12. - … The State shall equally protect the life of the mother & the
life of the unborn from conception…
Art. II. Sec. 15. – The State shall protect & promote the right to health of the
people and instill health consciousness among them.
Art. XIII. Sec. 11. – The State shall adopt an integrated & comprehensive
approach to health development which shall endeavor to make essential goods,
health & other social services available to all the people at affordable cost. There
shall be priority for the needs of the underprivileged, sick, elderly, disabled,
women & children. The State shall endeavor to provide free medical care to
paupers.
Art. XV. Sec. 3. [1] – The State shall defend the right of spouses to found a
family in accordance with their religious convictions and the demands of
responsible parenthood.
.1. Mean age at marriage for males is 20 & 19 for females. (YAFS3, 2002)
.2. At age 19, 1 of every 5 young women is already married & 90% of those
married have already given birth. (DOH, 1999)
.3. Mean age at having 1st child is 19. (YAFS3, 2002)
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE PHILIPPINES: RESPONSIBILITIES AND REALITIES
Written by: Elizabeth Angsioco, National Chair, DSWP
for the forum “The Reproductive Health Bill & Its Relevance to Filipino Workers”
11 September 2008, Adarna Food & Culture, Quezon City - 3 -
.4. Almost 10% of young Filipino women aged 15-19 has already given birth.
(NDHS, 1998)
POVERTY INCIDENCE
Family 1997 2000 2003
size
Phils. 28.1 27.5 24.4
1 8.36 7.57 4.44
2 11.76 11.74 7.81
3 15.86 14.52 11.45
4 20.44 19.62 17.05
5 27.38 27.14 24.31
REPRODUCTIVE HEALTH IN THE PHILIPPINES: RESPONSIBILITIES AND REALITIES
Written by: Elizabeth Angsioco, National Chair, DSWP
for the forum “The Reproductive Health Bill & Its Relevance to Filipino Workers”
11 September 2008, Adarna Food & Culture, Quezon City - 4 -
2.1. Mean age at first sex for males is 17 & 18 for females. (YAFS 3, 2002)
2.2. 16% of youth had first sex before age 15. (SPPR2, 2002)
2.3. 31.2% of males & 15.9% of females had premarital sex. (YAFS 3, 2002)
2.4. 27% of males & 14.5% of females used contraception during first
premarital sex (YAFS 3, 2002)
2.5. The lowest rate of contraceptive use is among the 15-19 years age bracket
(NDHS, 1998)
2.6. The majority of women practicing family planning uses modern instead of
traditional (calendar, rhythm, abstinence & withdrawal) methods. (FPS,
2006)
2.7. Only 0.4% of women uses natural family planning (NFP) methods
(Mucus/Billings/Ovulation, Standard Days, LAM) & only 13.2% uses
traditional methods. (FPS, 2005)
2.8. Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (CPR)
2.9. Almost 60% of women source their supply of FP services & supplies from
the public sector. The government has been dependent on outside donors
for its contraceptive commodities. USAID has completely phased out its
donations this year.
2.10. 61% of currently married women does not want additional children
anymore. (NDHS, 2003)
2.11. 50.6% of the youth wants to have only 2 children. (YAFS 3, 2002)
2.12. The unmet need for contraceptives is 23.15% for poor women & 13.6 for
women who are not poor. (NDHS, 2003)
2.13. 97% of all Filipinos believe it is important to have the ability to control
one’s fertility or to plan one’s family. 87% of total respondents is Roman
Catholic. (Pulse Asia Survey, February 2004)
2.14. FP can reduce maternal deaths by 32%. (DOH)
3. ABORTION
3.1. Unwanted pregnancy causes over 400,000 induced abortions every year.
(UPPU-AGI, 2006)
3.2. It is estimated that 16 out of every 100 pregnancies end in abortion. (Perez,
Aurora et al. 1997)
3.3. The big majority of women having induced abortion are poor (68%),
married (91%), with more than 3 children (57%), and Catholic (87%).
(UPPU-AGI, 2006)
3.4. By age groups, 27.9% of women who had induced abortion was aged 20-
24, 26.5% aged 25-29, and 19.3% was aged 30-34. (Raymundo, Corazon.
1998)
3.5. Over 78,000 women were hospitalized for complications of induced
abortion. (UPPU-AGI, 2006)
3.6. Some reasons why women have abortions:
Too many children
Birth spacing
Poverty
Rape/incest
Unstable relationship
Too young
(Safe Motherhood Fact Sheet: Unsafe Abortion, 1999)
86% says that candidates for elective positions who advocate a program
for women’s health should be supported;
82% of the population says that candidates in favor of couples’ free choice
of FP should be supported;
83% says that they are in favor of candidates who support the allocation
of government funds for FP.