POPCOM, LGUs ON FAMILY PLANNING

The Commission on Population (Popcom) on Wednesday inked a memorandum of agreement (MOA) with 13 provincial and city population offices in Central Luzon for the full implementation of tracking and monitoring strategies in addressing unmet needs on Modern Day Family Planning.

said “The MOA stated that the use of unmet needs as the bases for developing and assessing programs are consistent with the policy that focuses on meeting those needs rather than trying to change people’s preferences on family planning,” said Maria Aurora Quiray, Popcom regional director.

State of the Philippine Population Report 5 (SPPR5), which was the guiding principle of the MOA defined unmet needs as something that, “Even if some women want to limit or space their children, they do not practice any family planning method; hence, their need for family planning is not being met.”

Quiray added,“The undertaking is per Administrative Order No. 009 of the Department of Health (DOH) regarding the implementation of the National Strategy towards Reducing Unmet Need for Modern Family Planning as a means of achieving Millennium Development Goals on Maternal Health which has been issued in June this year.”

DOH will delivery services while Popcom will concentrate on demand generation to address the unmet need for Modern Family Planning.

Popcom already came up with a strategy to track and monitor the unmet need in Central Luzon based on specific needs and situation of the area which was shared to Central Luzon Association of Population Officers and Workers Inc. (CLAPOW) – the implementing arm of Popcom for Population Management Programs and activities.

National Statistics Office data reveal that more than one-fifth or 22.3 percent of Filipino women had an unmet need for family planning.  “And side by side with this unmet need is the moderate use of family planning methods.

This is measure by the contraceptive prevalence rate or percentage of women using a contraceptive method,” it added. (CLJD/JGB-PIA3)