Group renews push for family planning

CITING the lack of support for the 40-year-old birth control program, several groups have joined forces to ensure the family planning program achieves results.

In a news conference held Thursday at the Sofitel Hotel in Pasay City, the Philippine Family Planning Society lamented that the anemic support by the government and the strong opposition from the Catholic Church brought about an anemic family planning program that is ineffective in reducing unintended births and lowering maternal deaths.

This situation hits the poor the most, the society said. The poorest women are unable to use the family planning method they desire. They ended up having unwanted children and sometimes, bearing the common life-threatening complications of pregnancy and childbirth.

Dr. Lourdes Capitol, chairman of the UP-PGH Department of OB-Gyn, said her group saw the need for a comprehensive family planning program in the Philippines.

Activities of the society are funded by the United Nations Population Fund, which believes that no woman should die giving life, Capitol said. The UN estimated that, by 2015, between $5.5 billion and $6.1 billion in additional funding will be needed from domestic and international sources to improve maternal health.

Dr. Esmeraldo Ilem, vice president of the society, said the group has well-trained members who can help improve access to and enhance inequity in the country’s family planning program. –Macon Araneta, Manila Standard Today