RH bill passage to overcome poverty, says EU envoy

The passage of the Reproductive Health bill would boost the Philippines’ fight against poverty, Ambassador Alistair MacDonald of the Delegation of the European Commission in the Philippines said.

MacDonald said House Bill 5043 is a long-term program that will provide health services and educate people, especially the poor who are most vulnerable to sickness and other life risks.

“The Reproductive Health bill is not about sex, or ethics. It will improve the position of women in the Philippines and paint a bright future for their children,” he said.

The House Bill 5043 is proposed on the rationale that human development is better assured with a manageable population. The measure promises universal access to medically safe, legal, affordable and quality reproductive health services to women and children

“Without an effective framework for reproductive health, the Philippines will continue to limit its possibilities of lifting people out of poverty,” MacDonald pointed out.

The envoy’s declaration is given weight by a recent report by the Asian Development Bank, which said there were factors other than income that have an impact on a country’s standard of living. These factors include the basic services provided by governments in health and education, and access to these services by the population, which determines health and education outcomes.

Sectors supporting the bill, including the United Nations Populations Fund, have resoundingly urged to authorities to put such measure in place because of 11 Filipino mothers dying everyday because of giving birth.

The scenario puts the Philippines off track in achieving Millennium Development Goal No. 5, which is to reduce maternal mortality ratio by 75 percent between 1990 and 2015, while also including universal access to reproductive health services.

The Philippines’ maternal mortality rate was 209 in the early 90s, and it has gone down to 172 in 1998. Such figures, however, stagnated at 162 in 2006. At this pace of reduction, the maternal mortality ratio by 2015 would just be at 140—a far cry from the 52 target.

As such, MacDonald also cited that the Reproductive Health bill can also maximize the foreign aid that the Philippines is getting from its donors, including the European Union (EU).

The EU, according to the envoy, has earmarked 16 million euros for 16 provinces in the Philippines annually. Of this number, 60 percent are allocated for health care services.

“We are not saying that you pass the RH bill because if not, we won’t give you aid. Our point here is that the RH law would help secure that the healthcare funds would be spent for the welfare of those who need the health care the most,” MacDonald said.

The ADB report had said, “[I]t is not enough to improve people’s standards of living. Rather, governments’ planning, delivery, and management of public services are major factors that determine progress in human development.”

As such, MacDonald said the EU may give additional funding to local governments that are doing well in providing healthcare services for their people based on the criteria of high accessibility to health services, maternal health care, and the availability of midwives per head of the population, among others. –Llanesca T. Panti, Reporter, Manila Times