QUEZON CITY (PIA) – The Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) appealed to the public in a recent release to continue practicing family planning amid the projected 214,000 unplanned births for this year.
The University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) and the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) estimated about 3,099,000 women between 15 to 49 years old have an unmet need for family planning exacerbated by the pandemic.
With family-planning services impeded due to the nationwide implementation of community quarantines, an additional 590,000 might be added to the figure, bringing the total to 3,688,000—a 19-percent jump.
Meanwhile, among teenagers ages 15 to 19, an estimated 163,000 adolescents with unmet needs for family planning will increase to 178,000 or a surge of 9.3 percent.
According to POPCOM, live births may reach almost 1.9 million in 2021 due to compromised access to family planning services due to lockdown imposition.
The highest number of births in the country since 2000 was 1.790M and 1.668 million delivery in 2018.
“While the numbers are staggering, this should sound the alarm for everyone that as the pandemic rages on, family planning should still be on top-of-the-mind for everyone -- not only for those directly involved in can make a difference by doing their very best to avoid being added as a statistic to the abovementioned numbers; that is, to ensure that they help reduce the incidences of unplanned pregnancies,” said Undersecretary Juan Antonio Perez III, POPCOM’s executive director.
The POPCOM has numerous family planning programs currently in place, such as the home delivery of three months’ worth of supplies of family planning commodities such as pills and condoms for those who have enlisted to the family planning program.
Health centers can also accommodate women to avail of injectable and subdermal implants to ensure the duration of the effect of the contraceptives.
Interested parties may also reach POPCOM through the helplines and chat features of the Usap Tayo sa Family Planning Facebook page. (GRC-PIA IDPD)
