Reproductive Health

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s population is projected to increase from 95.8 million to 97.6 million this year, the government said yesterday. In a telephone interview, Commission on Population (PopCom) executive director Tomas Osias, citing data from the National Statistics Coordinating Board, said the adjustment will be brought about by the 1.7 million Filipino babies…

MANILA, Philippines – The country’s population is projected to increase from 95.8 million to 97.6 million this year, the government said yesterday.

“Male Involvement” has long been a buzz-word (or “buzz-term”) in family planning circles. Often it is paired with the word “increasing,” that is, assuming that male involvement in family planning – either by encouraging their wives or partners to use contraception, paying for the methods, or even assuming responsibility themselves – is deficient if not…

Following Professor Winnie Monsod’s excellent presentation of the relatively balanced implications of the World at 7 Billion for the developed and developing parts of planet earth, I’m sorry to be the bearer of sad tidings about our own country. But mind you, my purpose is not to talk about sad news for its own sake…

Sensing that the Reproductive Health (RH) bill is not going to get the nod of the House of Representatives before the Christmas break, supporters of the measure yesterday urged House Speaker Feliciano Belmonte to intervene and rev up the legislative mill for the controversial bill.

Imagine this scenario:  The only child of two aging and sickly parents faces deep pressure to provide for all their needs since there are no siblings to help carry the burden.

JOAN was only 10 when she came to Davao City. That was the time when her parents got separated. Her father left the family for another woman. Joan is the youngest of four siblings so she was brought to the city to live with her grandmother. Her mother decided to work abroad to support the…

The controversial reproductive health (RH) bill has already received funding under the proposed P1.816-trillion national budget for next year amounting to P7.7 billion.

THE reproductive health bill could lose in the plenary if it were put to a vote now, so House leaders set the voting on the bill next year, Majority Leader Neptali Gonzales II said Tuesday as the plenary debates on the measure resumed.

Every time I express my stand against the RH bill I only state the established facts and the laws applicable to those sets of facts.

THE Infant and Pediatric Nutrition Association of the Philippines belied a drop in breastfeeding, citing the Food and Nutrition Research Institute survey which showed that nine out of 10 Filipino infants are breastfed by their mothers.

The quality of life in the Philippines, as measured by the Human Development Index, slightly improved compared to last year, according to the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP).

MANILA, Philippines — Last Monday, Oct. 31, the world’s population reached a stunning seven billion, and the latest addition to the burgeoning number of humanity came from the Philippines.

MANILA, Philippines – Aggressive advertisements and doctors’ influence have caused the breastfeeding culture in the Philippines to decline, exposing babies to fatal and debilitating illnesses, a study of the World Health Organization (WHO) showed.

MANILA, Philippines – World population will reach seven billion by Oct. 31 with the Philippines being the 12th most populous country, a report of the United Nations Population Fund (UNFA) showed.

THE UNITED Nations has presented ways by which countries can address poverty issues in the face of a steadily increasing population that is projected by demographers to reach seven billion by the end of this month.

MANILA, Philippines – Four of 10 babies born in the country are illegitimate, data from the National Statistics Office (NSO) showed.

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.

It was intriguing to read the Philippine Daily Inquirer column of Dr. Bernado Villegas on the Reproductive Health bill last Oct. 14. He said despite the inclusion of the RH bill in the priority list of the Legislative-Executive Development Advisory Council, it seems there is very little probability that it will be passed even in…

Pregnancy is certainly a roller coaster of emotions for mums-to-be, but sadly, the journey from conception to birth ends all-too soon for some. Approximately 15 percent of recognized pregnancies end in miscarriage in the United States, and another 1 percent end in stillbirth. So how do these grieving individuals cope?

THE HOUSE leadership terminated the questioning of an anti-reproductive health lawmaker after he accused the more than 100 authors of the RH bill of promoting “immorality, promiscuity and bestiality” because they were pushing condoms and pills in family planning.

The United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) said only 34 percent of Filipino mothers practice exclusive breastfeeding in the first six months of their babies.

The disclosure of an almost P14-billion budgetary requirement being imposed by the Department of Health (DoH) and proposed to be included in the 2012 budget for the implementation of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill gave Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile another reason to strongly oppose the highly debated measure.

MANILA, Philippines – Minors won’t be given condoms, intra-uterine devices (IUDs), and other contraceptives even if the reproductive health (RH) bill is enacted into law.

MANILA, Philippines – A new study suggests that women who use hormonal contraceptives doubles their risk for acquiring HIV, and are twice as likely to transmit it to their partners.

SENATOR PIA CAYETANO REVEALS: MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Health is proposing close to P14 billion to fund the controversial Reproductive Health bill in 2012, Senator Pia Cayetano disclosed during plenary deliberations of the measure on Tuesday.

UNFPA (called UN Population Fund, but formerly known as United Nations Fund for Population Activities) denies the allegation made by Reproductive bill objectors or pro-life groups that it supports abortion as a family planning method. Having attended the International Conference on Population and Development (ICPD) in Cairo and several population conferences, as well as my…

LONDON, England – Young people across the globe are having more unprotected sex and know less about effective contraception options, a multinational survey revealed on Monday.

LONDON, England – Young people across the globe are having more unprotected sex and know less about effective contraception options, a multinational survey revealed on Monday. The “Clueless or Clued Up: Your Right to be informed about contraception” study prepared for World Contraception Day (WCD) reports that the number of young people having unsafe sex…

Malacañang’s undue interest in the RH bill at this stage cannot help but arouse curiosity. The palace spokesman Edwin Lacierda even went out of bounds by telling our legislators to cut short the debate on the bill and vote on it already. As PNoy’s mouthpiece, he is putting his boss in a tight spot because…