Reproductive Health

In 1987, the world population was estimated at five billion. Twelve years later, another billion people were added, and experts say that by this year, the population of the world will reach, a number that is supposed to take 200 years for somebody to count out aloud.

BAYAWAN CITY, Negros Oriental – It was drizzling and the narrow path was muddy and slippery. From Nangka 1 village proper, it took an hour’s walk to reach the solitary wooden hut on a hill, overlooking a rice field on one side and a stream on the other.

CATHOLIC bishops on Saturday voted as their leader a colleague who once likened the supporters of family planning to terrorists. The election of Cebu Archbishop Jose Palma to the presidency of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines came amid growing friction between the administration of President Benigno Aquino III and the prelates over family…

The United nations Population Fund (UNFPA) said that with a population of 94 million, the Philippines is the 12th most populous country in the world and with an average of 2 million babies born every year, the number could hit the 100 million mark by 2015.

Our choice to reproduce – or not – is a fundamental human right, and decision-makers must consider it in this context alone Human rights are universal. Few people would deny that everyone should be healthy and well fed, treated equally, and able to live in an environmentally sustainable way.

MANILA, Philippines — Launched last year as the branded generics company of Pfizer Philippines, Pfizer Parke Davis (PPD) is expanding its CSR efforts by opening its first Nay Bahay Ligtas Paanakan Center—a lying-in maternal facility that will give birthing mothers from indigent communities a safe place for labor with the expert supervision of licensed midwives.

MANILA: The head of the influential Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) admitted that the family planning bill pending in Congress remains the group’s toughest challenge despite the scandal involving some of its members who received as “donations” expensive sport utility vehicles from a government agency.

MANILA, Philippines – With the debates over the Reproductive Health (RH) bill to be revived once Congress resumes session on July 25, Pope Benedict XVI reminded Filipino bishops to be firm in their position against the bill.

WITH the Philippines now the 12th most populous country in the world, a United Nations Population Fund (UNPF) official said that there is a need for the Aquino administration to promote reproductive health and rights, adding that the world’s population will hit seven billion before the end of 2011.

MANILA, Philippines – With the world population expected to reach seven billion by the end of October – with more than 100 million of them Filipinos – an official of the United Nations said yesterday the focus of discussions should not be about numbers but on the quality of life of these people.

MANILA, Philippines — Civil society organizations Thursday urged the government to step-up programs to address problems spawned by rapidly increasing population not only of the Philippines but in other countries around the world. Benjamin de Leon, President of Forum for Family Planning and Development, made the call as the country’s population, which is now 94…

Debate rages over’ reproductive health’ bill. Corazon Aquino supported ‘people power’ in 1986; now her son, the country’s new president, suggests that the poor might not know what’s best for them. MANILA — When Philippine lawmakers return on July 25 for the second session of the 15th Congress, they will continue debates on two reproductive-health…

HONG KONG – For more than two decades, the Catholic Church in the Philippines, Asia’s only predominantly Catholic country, has opposed a Reproductive Health Bill that seeks to give poor people access to free contraceptives. The issue, Archbishop Socrates Villegas said in a statement, should be decided by “faith not opinions”.

MANILA, June 30 (PNA) — The Philippines’ commitment in combating HIV/AIDS was highlighted during the plenary meeting on the Implementation of the Declaration of Commitment on HIV/AIDS and the Political Declaration on HIV/AIDS at the 65th session of the UN General Assembly.

The fact remains that 11 Filipino mothers die of pregnancy-related complications everyday. There are several reasons for this: Lack of access to health facilities before, during and after a woman’s pregnancy and delivery; lack of money to bring the pregnant woman to a health facility; the long travel to a health facility; unavailability of transportation…

Theme: The impact of unsafe abortions on MDG 5: Improve maternal health sponsored by Marie Stopes International “I heard a nurse say ‘If you die, it’s all your own fault’”. Ana, a 35-year old Filipino, looks down as she recalls the day she was brought to the hospital in a pool of her own blood.…

MANILA, Philippines — Health authorities have asked the House of Representatives to consult international medical experts before acting on a bill that seeks to impose stiffer penalties on abortion and widen the scope of prohibited acts.

Eight Cebuano congressmen have signified their opposition to House Bill 4244 also known as the Reproductive Health bill, and if this is any indication, the Catholic Church maybe slowly but surely winning the campaign against the controversial population measure.

Doe-eyed and frail, with a mellow voice and a cheery smile, nothing about Sara (not her real name) suggested she had been through ordeal after ordeal in her 22 years. Forcibly married at 15 to a much older man, she discovered after the marriage that her husband had HIV, and that he had infected her.…

MANILA, Philippines – The number of legislators who are opposed to the passage of the controversial reproductive health bill is continuously increasing, an official of the Catholic Bishops Conference of the Philippines (CBCP) said.

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (MindaNews/15 June) – The local chapter of the London-based Amnesty International has joined the now much debated Reproductive Health Bill and is calling on the bill’s leading opposition, the Roman Catholic Church, to reconsider its position.

THE COUNTRY’S population grows by about two million every year. That’s like adding half the population of Singapore, or a third of Hong Kong’s, every 12 months. Feeding an enormous, fast-growing population is difficult enough; feeding it at a time of gathering crisis—the new Oxfam report speaks of “spiralling food prices, devastating weather events, global…

MALOLOS CITY, Philippines  – Pro-life advocates called anew for the junking of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill during a rally last Friday, saying deliberations on the measure are a waste of time.

QUEZON CITY, METRO MANILA –The Reproductive Health Practitioners of the Philippines (RHPP) is calling on lawmakers to finally approve the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill.

House adjourns with no vote on RH bill MANILA, Philippines – Lawmakers expect President Aquino to make a strong statement of the controversial Reproductive Health (RH) Bill during his State of the Nation Address in July.

MANILA, Philippines — A joint panel in the Senate has formally endorsed for plenary approval  the controversial Reproductive Health bill aimed at providing informed choice and equal access to all methods of family planning.

Lawmakers opposing the controversial Reproductive Health Bill yesterday called on the House leadership to immediately pass a measure imposing stiffer penalties against abortion.

MANILA, Philippines – The Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry Inc. backed yesterday President Aquino’s responsible parenthood policy.

The showdown on the RH bill will reveal the identities of politicians who are really concerned about the welfare of our country and people and not of their own selfish interests. It will tell us whether they personally consulted their constituents and not merely relied on surveys before making a stand for or against the…

Advocates of the contro-versial Reproductive Health (RH) bill yesterday lamented the current delay in the passage of the measure even as they said the delay could lead to the deaths of more women due to cervical cancer.