DOH: Over 10 million Filipinas with unmet need for family planning
The Philippines, a nation of over 116 million, is grappling with a serious reproductive health issue. Millions of Filipino women are unable to access birth control pills, putting them at risk of unwanted pregnancies.
According to the Department of Health (DOH) report, the country is still 17% short of the Philippines Family Planning 2030 (FP2023) commitment to attain 75% demand satisfaction with family planning methods by 2030.
"Our target for family planning demand satisfied with modern family planning is 75 percent and we are at 58 percent," said Dr. Ron Allan Quimado of the DOH’s Child, Adolescent and Maternal Health Division during the 2024 National Conference on Family Planning held in Pasig City.
"For the target to be achieved we should be able to serve around 10.177 million women assuming total demand remains constant by 2030,” he added.
In case you didn't know, FP2030 is the only global partnership focused on family planning. It "unites a wide of partners across disciplines and sectors," including family planning at the center of global health, development, and gender equality.
'Oral pills remain the top preference of women'
In the Philippines, despite the widespread recognition of family planning as essential to public health, millions of women continue to lack access to reliable contraception. They may desire to limit family size or space their pregnancies but face significant barriers that prevent them from fulfilling that need.
Quimado said that 12.9 million or 44% of women need family planning in 2023. Of the number, there are 8.7 million, or 67%, aged 15 to 19 years, are using modern family planning methods.
Moreover, Quimado said that implants posted the highest increase in the number of users, growing by 24.11%. It is now the 4th most common modern family planning method.
However, despite access to modern family planning methods, there are around three million unintended pregnancies, 800,000 unsafe abortions, and 970 maternal deaths were averted in 2023.
"Even as we celebrate the success we know that there is more that needs to be done,” Quimado said.
Meanwhile, Commission on Population and Development executive director Liza Bersales said the country's fertility rate has been continuing to decline, with over half of it due to the poorest quintiles of the women population.
This means all women, regardless of educational attainment and socioeconomic status, now want less number of children.
"It’s (key findings) is an invitation to provide family planning services for poor and less educated women in the country," she said, adding that the National Capital Region (NCR) and CALABARZON contributed to the biggest drop in the country's fertility rate. (with reports from Mayen Jaymalin)