CONTROL METHODS. The Commission on Population and Development will ensure that local government units will have supplies of contraceptives, especially in areas with strict quarantine status, according to Undersecretary for Population and Development Dr. Juan Antonio Perez III. The agency said about 700,000 women and men using pills and condoms will be affected if their access is interrupted. (PNA file photo)
MANILA – The Commission on Population and Development (PopCom) will work with local government units (LGUs) to guarantee that family planning supplies would not run out of stock amid the week-long Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus bubble.
PopCom wants to ensure that nationwide, there will be a steady supply of family planning commodities.
If possible, there will be house-to-house deliveries of pills and condoms, according to Undersecretary for Population and Development Dr. Juan Antonio Perez III in a statement on Monday.
Perez said there is also a possibility of further local, regional, and wider quarantines in the coming weeks as the Covid-19 pandemic intensifies.
About 700,000 Filipinos using pills and condoms may be affected by stricter quarantine protocols, according to data.
"The context of our concern last year was related to the severity of lockdowns, population affected, and the length of the period of ECQ. The current one is quite limited, but will affect a third of the population, and might take its toll on local health systems," Perez added.
In a 2020 study of the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) and United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), unintended pregnancies occur in one out of three women who cannot continue family planning methods.
PopCom urged LGUs to always include family planning initiatives in their activities.
“As we acknowledge the invaluable assistance they extend to the grassroots and other hard-to-reach areas, we once again call on our barangay health and population workers and volunteers, also on behalf of the millions of family planning users in the entire Philippines, to extend their energies to family planning work,” Perez said. (PNA)
