Two in every 10 couples in Central Visayas are unable to have their desired number of children due to the lack of access to family planning services, an official of the Population Commission (PopCom) said.
Josephine dela Cerna, PopCom Central Visayas information officer, said the unmet need for family planning among many couples in the region may negatively affect the region’s population.
“The 21.5 percent unmet need could have a big impact in terms of population increase. If every couple had access to family planning services, we could manage population growth,” she said in a recent interview.
Other factors contributing to couples’ unmet needs for family planning include culture and religion, noted dela Cerna.
She said the passage of the reproductive health (RH) bill will “uplift the situation of women” and curb abortion and sexually-transmitted diseases like Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (Aids).
The Cebu City Health Department has recorded 10 cases of HIV in September alone, with most cases attributed to needle-sharing.
From January to August this year, city health records showed a 98 percent increase in HIV cases that involved intravenous drug injection.
Pope Benedict XVI was recently quoted as saying male prostitutes’ use of condoms could represent a first step in assuming moral responsibility “in the intention of reducing the risk of infection.”
At a forum last month, PopCom Regional Director Leo Rama said Bohol and Negros Oriental have been working on their own RH ordinances.
“People’s level of acceptance of this bill is quite high. It’s because the people need help in terms of information and services related to reproductive health and family planning,” he said.
Dela Cerna said the agency is promoting informed choice among couples, but admitted teaching couples natural methods of contraception is harder than teaching them artificial methods.
(RSB of Sun.Star Cebu)
|
