Thursday, January 15, 2004
Family planning ads to air on TV
By Charmaine Y. Rodriguez
Sun.Star Staff Reporter
A SERIES of advertisements on modern family planning methods will be launched on nationwide TV starting tomorrow.
It is timed for the upcoming elections since organizers want candidates to take a stand on the use of contraceptives and to announce their policies on population Control.
With the country’s population now reaching 84 million, Eleanor de Guzman, chief of The Social Acceptance Program-Family Planning (TSAP-FP), said there is a need to “endorse family planning to those who need it.”
Former health secretary Alberto Romualdez, who now heads the Friendly Care Foundation, said “population management” should be one of the election issues raised to candidates.
Campaign
The campaign, dubbed “Sa modern methods, sigurado ka, walang patsamba-tsamba,” has the support of nine organizations, including a religious group.
To counter possible opposition from the Catholic Church, which is against modern methods, Yoly Ong of Campaigns and Grey, an advertising firm, said they included natural family planning in the list, although they are promoting “modern” methods to get “social acceptance.”
According to a 2002 survey, 14 million Filipinos of reproductive age are not using any family planning methods, although many of them want to space their children while others, mostly mothers, do not want to have children anymore.
The Academy for Educational Development (AED) launched the campaign at the Manila Hotel Tuesday, with funding from the USAID.
In a separate interview, Romualdez said a non-partisan group will be launching such initiatives throughout the country soon.
However, the Cebu City United Vendors Association (CCUVA), one of the organizations supporting TSAP, will not be initiating one in Cebu City, said CCUVA president Maria Buanghug.
Survey
“Hindi ito para sa mga politico kasi may sarili silang interes (This is not politicians because they have their own interests),” she told reporters from Manila, Cebu and Davao during the press conference.
However, Ong revealed that surveys show that 90 percent of Filipinos agree with family planning.
“If politicians know their number, they should review their position,” she added.
Dr. Florence Apale of the family planning service of the Department of Health said the government is supporting the initiative and will “expand” benefits under the Philhealth to cover modern family planning methods.
The DOH is also coordinating with local government units to ensure that contraceptives will be available in barangay centers.
She also explained that although most methods, except the “withdrawal”, are considered an acceptable family planning method, some, like the rhythm method is still seen as “risky.”
Aside from promoting FP, the ads, that will be shown on prime time over GMA 7 and ABS-CBN, is also aimed at correcting “myths” that many Filipinos still believe in.
(January 15, 2004 issue)
Write letter to the editor. Click here.
Join the Sun.Star message board. Click here. |
