Meeting the MDGs: Highs and lows on women, health and education
AMITA O. LEGASPI, GMANews.TV
08/14/2009 | 12:06 PM
(Part 2 in a 3-part series)
Since 2001, the Reproductive Health Bill has languished in Congress. It aims to promote information sharing and access to natural, medically safe, and legally permissible family planning methods.
Had the government acted on it, Laarni could have had access to reproductive health services for free and could still be alive today. She would not have had second thoughts about going to the hospital.
"Family planning services form a crucial part in the reduction of maternal mortality, even in reducing cases of abortion," said Ramon San Pascual, executive director of the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD).
He told GMANews.TV that President Arroyo's policies and personal views hindered the effort in advancing reproductive health services. A devout Catholic, Mrs. Arroyo tossed the responsibility for deciding on these issues to local government units and did not provide a single centavo from the national budget for family planning, San Pascual said.
Opposition from the Catholic Church has made family planning a question of religion, instead of a health and development issue, he added.
San Pascual said 36 bills have been filed in the House of Representatives since 2007. All are pending at the committee level.
The government cannot continue its "business as usual mode" on reproductive health legislation if it hopes to achieve the MDG on maternal health, he said. Midway to 2015, the government has only reached one-fourth of its target. (See table)
The UP Population Institute and the Alan Guttmacher Institute said there were 3.4 million pregnancies in 2008. More than half of it, or around 1.9 million, were unintended or unwanted.
Worse, more than 500,000 of unplanned pregnancies end in abortion.
"Imagine, half a million Pinays resorting to unsafe and illegal means just to get rid of unwanted pregnancy," San Pascual said.
He said the availability of family planning services would cut down the rate of abortion, which is risky not only to the child but also the mother, by 30 per cent.
The government's failure to provide reproductive health services has resulted in runaway population growth, increasing poverty, and malnutrition, San Pascual said.
Education
In the educational sector, population increase will also make it unlikely that the government will achieve the MDG goal of 100 per cent completion of elementary education by 2015. (See table)
Yolanda Quijano, director of the Bureau of Elementary Education, admitted there was a problem in the enrollment of school-age children, particularly in strife-torn and calamity-prone areas like Mindanao.
"Nagbibigay tayo ng materials sa mga bata sa simula ng klase pero hindi na natin ma-track down pagkatapos," Quijano told GMANews.TV.
Gender Equality
The only silver lining in primary education is that more school-age girls are studying, said Emmeline Verzosa, executive director of the National Commission for the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW). The country is on track in meeting gender equality in education.
Unfortunately, recent trends show that more boys are dropping out to work for their families or out of lack of motivation to study.
She said her office has asked the DepEd to train teachers to be more gender sensitive and more persistent in motivating children, particularly boys, to go to school.
Gender equality is also gaining in the field of politics. The House of Representatives now counts 51 women as members, usually the wives or relatives of other politicians. Despite the affiliation, some have managed to promote their own style of leadership, Verzosa noted.
Very few women enter politics on their own volition, such as Isabela Governor Grace Padaca, said Verzosa. She expressed hopes that more women with a gender-equality perspective would participate in politics in the 2010 elections, as the Philippines still falls short in meetings its target in this area. (See table)
Combating diseases
Efforts to stop the spread of AIDS and other major diseases have been on track because of support from government and private organizations, according to Dr. Jaime Lagahid, director of the Infectious Diseases Office of the Department of Health (DOH).
He said the government has increased its funding for DOH projects for HIV cases, malaria and tuberculosis. However, mortality and morbidity from tuberculosis remains high, and the Philippines is unlikely to achieve the target of zero incidence by 2015. (See table)
Persons afflicted with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) in the country have increased but at a very slow rate, Lagahid said.
His office and non-government organizations are focusing on reaching out to sex workers, people living with HIV-positive persons, and men having sex with men, who are considered most at risk.
The most vulnerable persons are advised to go to social hygiene clinics in hospitals for counseling and voluntary testing, while those who are already afflicted with the disease can seek medical care in 11 treatment hubs across the country, he said.
However, Lagahid said the DOH has not been buying or distributing condoms because the government is against it. Hence, it is unlikely that the Philippines will achieve the target of 100 per cent contraceptive use in the next six years.
"We do recommend the use of condom, not as a contraceptive but to prevent infection if one cannot abstain from having sex, particularly the most at risk persons," Lagahid said. - GMANews.TV
(To be continued: RP making uneven progress in meeting MDG targets)
A devout Catholic, President Arroyo is seen praying in this file photo. She has hindered efforts to push for reproductive health services due to pressure from the church.
Had the government acted on it, Laarni could have had access to reproductive health services for free and could still be alive today. She would not have had second thoughts about going to the hospital.
"Family planning services form a crucial part in the reduction of maternal mortality, even in reducing cases of abortion," said Ramon San Pascual, executive director of the Philippine Legislators’ Committee on Population and Development (PLCPD).
He told GMANews.TV that President Arroyo's policies and personal views hindered the effort in advancing reproductive health services. A devout Catholic, Mrs. Arroyo tossed the responsibility for deciding on these issues to local government units and did not provide a single centavo from the national budget for family planning, San Pascual said.
Opposition from the Catholic Church has made family planning a question of religion, instead of a health and development issue, he added.
San Pascual said 36 bills have been filed in the House of Representatives since 2007. All are pending at the committee level.
The government cannot continue its "business as usual mode" on reproductive health legislation if it hopes to achieve the MDG on maternal health, he said. Midway to 2015, the government has only reached one-fourth of its target. (See table)
The UP Population Institute and the Alan Guttmacher Institute said there were 3.4 million pregnancies in 2008. More than half of it, or around 1.9 million, were unintended or unwanted.
Worse, more than 500,000 of unplanned pregnancies end in abortion.
"Imagine, half a million Pinays resorting to unsafe and illegal means just to get rid of unwanted pregnancy," San Pascual said.
He said the availability of family planning services would cut down the rate of abortion, which is risky not only to the child but also the mother, by 30 per cent.
The government's failure to provide reproductive health services has resulted in runaway population growth, increasing poverty, and malnutrition, San Pascual said.
Education
In the educational sector, population increase will also make it unlikely that the government will achieve the MDG goal of 100 per cent completion of elementary education by 2015. (See table)
Yolanda Quijano, director of the Bureau of Elementary Education, admitted there was a problem in the enrollment of school-age children, particularly in strife-torn and calamity-prone areas like Mindanao.
"Nagbibigay tayo ng materials sa mga bata sa simula ng klase pero hindi na natin ma-track down pagkatapos," Quijano told GMANews.TV.
Gender Equality
The only silver lining in primary education is that more school-age girls are studying, said Emmeline Verzosa, executive director of the National Commission for the Role of Filipino Women (NCRFW). The country is on track in meeting gender equality in education.
Unfortunately, recent trends show that more boys are dropping out to work for their families or out of lack of motivation to study.
She said her office has asked the DepEd to train teachers to be more gender sensitive and more persistent in motivating children, particularly boys, to go to school.
Gender equality is also gaining in the field of politics. The House of Representatives now counts 51 women as members, usually the wives or relatives of other politicians. Despite the affiliation, some have managed to promote their own style of leadership, Verzosa noted.
Very few women enter politics on their own volition, such as Isabela Governor Grace Padaca, said Verzosa. She expressed hopes that more women with a gender-equality perspective would participate in politics in the 2010 elections, as the Philippines still falls short in meetings its target in this area. (See table)
Combating diseases
Efforts to stop the spread of AIDS and other major diseases have been on track because of support from government and private organizations, according to Dr. Jaime Lagahid, director of the Infectious Diseases Office of the Department of Health (DOH).
He said the government has increased its funding for DOH projects for HIV cases, malaria and tuberculosis. However, mortality and morbidity from tuberculosis remains high, and the Philippines is unlikely to achieve the target of zero incidence by 2015. (See table)
Persons afflicted with HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) in the country have increased but at a very slow rate, Lagahid said.
His office and non-government organizations are focusing on reaching out to sex workers, people living with HIV-positive persons, and men having sex with men, who are considered most at risk.
The most vulnerable persons are advised to go to social hygiene clinics in hospitals for counseling and voluntary testing, while those who are already afflicted with the disease can seek medical care in 11 treatment hubs across the country, he said.
However, Lagahid said the DOH has not been buying or distributing condoms because the government is against it. Hence, it is unlikely that the Philippines will achieve the target of 100 per cent contraceptive use in the next six years.
"We do recommend the use of condom, not as a contraceptive but to prevent infection if one cannot abstain from having sex, particularly the most at risk persons," Lagahid said. - GMANews.TV
(To be continued: RP making uneven progress in meeting MDG targets)
