ILOILO City – The Commission on Population (POPCOM) urged couples in Western Visayas to avail themselves family planning commodities at their health centers.
“Married couples can approach their nearest health centers to avail themselves the family planning commodities they are most suited with, may it be a temporary, permanent, or natural modern scientific method,” POPCOM-6 director Harold Alfred Marshall said on May 23.
The agency is projecting a rise in this region’s population by 28, 816 due to the two-month community quarantine brought by the coronavirus disease.
According to Marshall, this region’s population rose to 14, 408 in a two-month period, citing the 2010 and 2015 census.
“That is for two months projection only starting March 16,” he added.
Despite the community quarantine, teenagers can also find ways to meet up – posing another challenge to teenage pregnancies.
Marshall said 1.5 million of the present 7.4 million population of this region are composed of adolescents from 15 to 19 years old.
“Ten percent of the adolescents in this region are considered mothers or have already given birth, while 15.1 percent have begun childbearing. Hopefully, this will not increase because of the lockdown,” he said.
Citing the national demographic health survey, Marshall added that those who are most likely to bear more children are from the lower wealth quintile, while couples with zero to little education can bear an average of four children.
The local government units (LGUs), meanwhile, have already been asked to include in their budgets the provision of family commodities for the locals.
“They can allocate budget for provision or procurement of family planning methods and they can actually really reach out to women and couples who need help,” Marshall said.
He added that local government units can also distribute family planning commodities among households during the community quarantine.(With a report from PNA/PN)
