DEPARTMENT of Health (DOH) Officer-in-charge Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire lauded the launching of the joint project funded by the Korea International Cooperation Agency (Koica) worth $6.5 million to address the issues of adolescent pregnancy in Southern Leyte and Samar.
“It is in this regard that I would like to commend the unique approach of this joint program. It provides a holistic, multisectoral approach to addressing adolescent pregnancies in the country,” said Vergeire during the launching ceremony of the project at the Summit Hotel, Tacloban City, on Monday, February 20, 2023.
“It applies the various principles of Universal Health Care (UHC) in an integrated manner, strengthening health systems, addressing the social determinants, and ensuring equitable access for the most vulnerable and marginalized,” she added.
The “Programme on Accelerating the Reduction of Adolescent Pregnancy in Southern Leyte and Samar,” which was officially signed in November 2022, is set to run from 2022-2026, covering 18 towns or 500 villages in Southern Leyte and 24 other towns and one city, or 951 villages in Samar.
“I am hopeful and optimistic on the social impacts of this project in the years to come. Along with the ongoing UHC implementations, we intend to build a solid and unshakable Eastern Visayas health care system aligned with the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and supported by our health strategy plan for 2023 to 2028,” added DOH-Eastern Visayas director Dr. Exuperia Sabalberino.
In a statement, the regional health official expressed her confidence in realizing the project’s objectives.
Risks of adolescent pregnancy
Citing the 2020 Civil Registration and Vital Statistics, the health department said 159 women between the ages of 15 and 19 lost their lives giving birth, making up 6 percent of all deaths among that age range.
“Moreover, a baby born to an adolescent mother is nearly twice as likely to have a low birth weight than a baby born to an adult mother—leaving the infant at an elevated long-term risk of illness and mortality,” it said.
The 2017 National Demographic and Health Survey also shows that the unmet demand for family planning among young women in the Philippines between the ages of 15 and 19 (27.9 percent) is much greater than that of any other age group or the national average (16.7 percent), according to the health department.
In the Asia-Pacific region, the Philippines “also has one of the highest rates of unmet family planning needs for teenagers.”
Through the said project, the DOH, along with partner agencies, are expecting to “improve access to quality information and services for adolescents; raise adolescents’ self-awareness and rights to enable them to make informed choices about their own bodies; and enhance governance for adolescents’ sexual and reproductive health.”
According to the DOH, the project “comes after the reoccurring presence of adolescent pregnancy cases in Eastern Visayas, primarily consisting of adolescent girls ages 10 to 19 years old.”
“Oftentimes caused by socio-cultural and socio-economic determinants of health, adolescent pregnancy is a serious issue that leads to adverse physical, mental, and economic repercussions to the affected individuals, the offspring, and their immediate communities. Above all, pregnant adolescents face an increased risk of maternal mortality,” DOH-Eastern Visayas said.
Also present during the project launching were DOH Assistant Secretary Dr. Beverly Lorraine Ho, Department of Social Welfare and Development Undersecretary Denise Florence Bernos-Bragas, Department of Education Undersecretary Revsee Escobedo, Department of Interior and Local Government Regional Director Arnel Agabe III, Koica Country Director Kim Eunsub, United Nations Resident Coordinator Gustavo Gonzales, United Nations Population Fund Country Representative Dr. Leila Joudane, United Nations International Children’s Fund Country Representative Oyunsaihan Dendevnorov, and World Health Organization officer-in-charge Country Representative Dr. Graham Harrison. (SunStar Philippines)