NAPC states : 10 Good reasons to pass the RH Bill now
by: Irma A. Guhit
SORSOGON CITY April 25 (PIA)... "The PNoy administration is committed to provide everyone the right to informed choice and that his constituency will be served better this way since awareness is one of the best things this administration is giving. Let us help this administration do good things in the right way. As people working in government let us support government ", National Anti-Poverty Commission (NAPC) Undersecretary Florencia "Oyen" Cassanova -Dorotan said while explaining the 10 good reasons why the Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill) shoud be passed now.
Attended by at least 50 participants comprising of people from the members of the media community here, the Provincial Gender Advocacy and Development Council members, the Vice Mayor's Leage association officials , focal persons of the municipal gender and development councils (MGADCs), Dorotan was passionate to explain yesterday during the consultation conference of the RH Bill , the very good reasons why women should be the staunch advocates that the RH bill be passed immediately.
According to Dorotan, in 1998 the RH was a bland program that two Department of Health (DOH) secreataries wished to mainstream into the health system.
Now RH or reproductive health is a byword that has gripped the public consciousness.
According to her report majority supported the RH Bill in endless surveys while congressional and presidential debates have erupted the issue.
Why is there majority support for the RH? Many strategic and practical reasons should be known and here are the 10 easy ones:
1. Protect the Health and Lives of Mothers- More than 11 mothers die
needlessly each day , the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates
that complications arise in 15% pregnancies, serious enough to kill or
hospitalize women.From the 2 million plus live births, some 300,000
maternal complications occur yearly. Adequate number of skilled
attendants and prompt referral to hospitals with emergency obstetric
care are proven to save maternal complications .For women who
wish to stop childbering, familiy planning is the best preventive
measures. RH Bill provides 3 of these interventions.
2. Save babies - Proper birth spacing reduces infant mortality.WHO
states that at least 2 years spacing should pass between birth and the
next pregnanacy. In our country , the infant mortality rate of those
with less than 2 years interval is twice those with three.The more
effective and user- friendly the Family Planning (FP) method, the greater
the chances the next child to survive.
3. Respond to majority who wants smaller families- Couples and
women nowadays want smaller families.When surveyed about their
ideal family size , women in their 40s want slightly more than 3 children
but those in their teens and early 20s want slightly more than 2 childeren.
Moreover , couples end up with families larger than they desire.The gap
between what is desired and actual is present in all social classes and
regions but biggest among the poor.
4. Promote equity for poor families- RH indicators show severe
iniquities between the rich and the poor. 4 % of women in the richest
quintile have skilled birth attendant compared to only 26 % in the
poorest.The rich hardly exceed their planned number of children, while
the poorest exceeds by 2 and infant deaths among the poorest are
almost 3 times higher .An RH law will promote equity in health through
stronger access to public health service more accessible to the poor
families.
5. Prevent Induced abortion - Unintended pregnancies precede almost
induced abortions.Of all unintended pregnancies 68 % occur in women
with out FP method and 24% happen to those using traditional FP like
withdrawal or calendar-abstinenece. If all those who want to space or stop
child bearing would use modern FP, abortions would fall by 500,000 -
close to 90% of the estimated total. In our country where abortion is strictly
criminalized and where 90,000 women are hospitalized yearly for
complications, it would be reckless and heartless not to ensure prevention
through FP.
6.Support and Deploy More Public Midwives, Nurses and Doctors-
RH Bill services are needed whenever people are establishing
their families.The report of the United Nations Millenieum Development
Goals (MDG)Task force points out the need for 1 fulltime midwife to
attend to every 100-200 annual live births. Other health staff are needed
for the millions who need prenatal and postpartum care, infant care and
FP. Investing in these core public health staff will serve the basic
needs of many health communities.
7.Guarantee Funding For and Equal Access to Health Facilities - RH
will need and therefore support the improvement of many levels of
health facilities. These range from barangay health stations, for
basic prenatal, infant and FP care, health centers for safe
birthing, more difficult RH services like IUD insertions and
management of sexually transmitted infections; and hospitals,
for emergency obstetric and new born care and surgical
conception. Strong RH facilities will be the backbone of a strong
and fairly distributed public health facility system.
8. Give Accurate and Positive Sexuality Education to Young People -
Currently most young people enter relationships and even married life
without the benefit of systematic inputs by any of our social
institutions.With a result of one just faulty sexual decision, many young
men and women can lose their future, their health and sometimes their
lives.We insist on young voter's education for an activity that occurs every
3 years but leave our young people with little preparation to cope with
major life events like puberty and sexual maturation.
9. Reduce Cancer Deaths- Delaying sex, avoiding multiple partners or
using condoms prevent genital warts or HPV infection that cause
cervical cancers.Self -breast exams and Pap smear can detect
early signs of cancer which can be cured if treated early. All these are part
of the RH education and care. Contraceptives do not heighten cancer
risks; combined pills actually reduce the risk on endomitrial and ovarian
cancers.
10.Save Money That can be Used For More Social Spending -
Ensuring modern FP for all who need it would increase spending
from P1.9 B to P 4.0 B, but the medical costs for unintended
pregnanacies would fall from P3.5 B to P 0.6 B resulting in the net
savings of P0.8 B. There is evidence that families with fewer
children do spend more for health and education.
The participants who attended the consultation conference were provided the right knowledge on the salient features of the bill and now are aware non what stand to make.
As Usec Dorotan said," We don't have to be too self- righteous but believe that government in its desire to provide the best service possible is making its constituency aware and informed so that right choices and stands be made". (PIA-Sorsogon)
