THE United Nations (UN) Millennium Campaign wants an end to the dispute on the reproductive health (RH) bill.

"I think the earlier all of you here come to a consensus on this bill, the better our chances are of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)," said Minar Pimple, deputy director of the UN Millennium Campaign.

A resolution of the conflict will help address the problem of maternal mortality, Pimple said. The fifth MDG is to improve maternal health by 2015.

“However, this may not be achieved if we do not come up with a general consensus on the bill,” said Pimple.

Pimple said an average of 11 maternal deaths is recorded every day in the country based on the United Nations’ records. The deaths are preventable, said Pimple.

The related problem of HIV/AIDS has also been on the rise in the country.

“Years ago, all of us thought that HIV would be in control in the years to come. But now as we look at it, it continues to grow,” said Pimple.

Of the reported HIV cases in the country last year, at least 200 of these ended in deaths.

“Then again, who knows how many there really are? Reported cases of HIV are always low, because of the social stigma,” said Pimple.

With the right access to information, maternal deaths and deaths due to HIV could have easily been prevented, he said.

There are eight MDGs, measured using about 60 indicators. These goals are: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; promote gender equality and empower women; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/Aids, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability; and develop a global partnership for development.

In a recent Social Weather Stations survey, 600 Cebuanos in Cebu City’s first district and Cebu Province’s second district agreed that parents should talk to their children aged 15 to 24 years about HIV/AIDS, including the use of condoms.

Pimple said the country lags behind in terms achieving the MDG’s goal to eradicate poverty and hunger.

“Sixty-two percent of men and women of reproductive age consider their family poor. Self-rated poverty is higher in the second district of Cebu Province than in the first district of Cebu City (66 percent vs. 59 percent),” the survey said.

The percentage is also higher in the lower class than in the upper class, the survey said.

But despite the lack of consensus on the passage of the RH bill, the country is still responsive to the efforts to achieve the MDGs, Pimple said.

“The awareness of the MDGs in the local government units in the Philippines is very, very high. Everybody here knows about the MDGs and are willing to help,” said Pimple.