Saturday, April 20, 2024

Tag: Popcom

Teenage pregnancy declines in PH, Normin tops in cases

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CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Teenage pregnancy cases in the country had gone down from 8.6 percent in 2017 to 5.4 percent in 2022, yet despite the decrease in cases, Northern Mindanao records the highest percentage of adolescents who have been pregnant at 10.9 percent

“Forty-four per 1,000 female adolescents aged 15–19 have given birth in 2020, which means approximately 30 adolescents give birth in the region daily,” Commission on Population (POPCOM)-10 Assistant Regional Director Richmond Charles Gajudo said.

According to data from 2020, the three provinces with the highest rates of teen pregnancy are Bukidnon, Misamis Oriental, and Cagayan de Oro City. Each of these three provinces is responsible for 43% of all births to teenagers. The youngest age at which a teen was known to be pregnant was 11 years old in Cagayan de Oro City. In Valencia City, the young mother was 12 years old.

Being pregnant at such a young age is bad for young people, both in terms of their health and their finances. It was also said that having a child at such a young age is bad for a teenager’s health because their bodies aren’t ready to carry a child and can sometimes lead to the death of newborns and infants.

Since the childbearing years of a female are between the ages of 15 and 49, there is a tendency to have repeat pregnancies, which may lead to having more children and the possibility of having multiple partners, which is a health risk.

According to the commission, based on studies involving the very young adolescence of 10–14 years old, female teens who get pregnant have older male partners. Due to this, Republic Acts 11596 and 11648 were created to protect the said age group from child marriage and increase the age of sexual consent from 12 to 16 years old.

With the number of teenage pregnancies going up, POPCOM-10 and the local government units (LGUs) have stepped up their efforts to stop them. The commission helps the LGUs plan and get ready for programs that will be used, like setting up a teen center to deal with the problems mentioned above.

“We have a new program being implemented for teen moms and their children called a “social program for adolescent moms and their children.” It is like 4Ps, where they will receive a monthly stipend to support them finish their studies and livelihood programs for them to be able to support the needs of their child,” says POPCOM-10 Technical Section Head Jeremias Cabasan.

POPCOM urges everyone to work together to better address the teenage pregnancy case in the region. Teenage pregnancies are caused by many things, including the teens themselves, their families, the community, and even how policies are put into place. This means that the solution can’t just be found in POPCOM, the Department of Health, or the Department of Education. Instead, there needs to be a collaboration between different agencies and sectors. (JAKA/PIA-10)

Popcom links family planning to poverty reduction in NorMin

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CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY (11 May 2021) – The Commission on Population and Development in Region 10 (Popcom 10) said the government’s intensified family planning (FP) services for women and couples have helped reduce the number of poor families in some Northern Mindanao provinces.

In a statement on May 11, Popcom-10 cited data from the Philippine Statistic Authority (PSA) showing poverty incidence among families in Bukidnon “drastically dropped” to more than half from 47 percent in 2015 to 22.2 percent in 2018.

Popcom-10 noted that data also showed the poverty incidence among the population decreased from 53.6 percent in 2015 to 27.5 percent in the same year.

In the same period, the agency said figures from the Popcom’s Field Health Service Information System (FHSIS) showed a “leaps and bounds increase” in modern contraceptive prevalence rate (mCPR) in the area from 48.8 percent in 2016 to 63.5 percent in 2018.

“With many couples able to prevent unplanned pregnancies, they are also able to provide for the need of their children and increase savings for other investments,” it said.

The FHSIS data also showed the mCPR in Misamis Oriental province increasing to 87.6 percent in 2019 from 84.7 percent in 2016.

Since then, the poverty incidence among the population declined to 20.7 percent in 2018 from 23.4 percent in 2012. This translated to an estimated 100,000 people lifted from poverty, based on average data from Popcom-10 and PSA.

In March this year, the two provinces signed a partnership agreement with Popcom-10 for the full localization of the Philippine Population Management Program (PPMP).

PPMP acknowledges the devolved powers of the local government units (LGUs), where poverty and population problems are best resolved, Popcom-10 said.

The agreement carries with it a grant of PHP1 million for both provinces, to be used to implement the three program components of PPMP such as responsible parenthood and family planning (RPFP), adolescent health and development (AHD), and the population and development (PopDev) integration.

Popcom-10 Director Neil Aldrin G. Omega underscored the importance of implementing the population program to reap “social and economic benefits.”

“Understanding the interrelationship of population and development would enable LGUs to design development interventions that would benefit its people,” Omega said.

Along with the financial grant, Popcom-10 also provides technical assistance to LGUs in the areas of capacity building and family planning outreach activities in geographically isolated and displaced areas.