LUBAO -- Former Second District Board Member Olga Frances "Fritzie" David Dizon urged local officials and other groups to support the health care programs of the Pampanga provincial government after being alarmed by the increasing number of teenage pregnancies here.
Dizon said the all-out support from various sectors on the health care projects of Pampanga will drastically reduce the cases of teenage pregnancies threatening the "lives and future" of women and their children.
"The governor has prioritized health care since 2010 to protect her constituents, especially the most gentle among them which are the females and youth. Nanay (Pineda) said a lot of times that a healthy person is productive. A mother which benefited from Pineda’s programs such as this Buntis Summit could help in improving her family’s quality of life," said, Dizon who is now the chief-of-staff of the two-term governor. She was a board member when Governor Pineda was on her first-term beginning 2010.
"Pineda and the provincial board led by Vice-Governor Dennis Pineda have instituted programs to help women deal with challenging times and their other projects are focus on making them productive while they take care of their children," added Dizon, who is reportedly eyeing a return as member of the Provincial Board.
In a recent press conference hosted by the Capampangan in Media Inc., the Pampanga Medical Society (PMS) said that the province is not exempt from the worldwide trend in teenage pregnancy explosions. The group blamed internet pornography for the problem.
The United Nations Population Fund- Philippines (UNFPA) website said pregnancy among girls under the age of 20 increased by 65 per cent over a 10-year period, from 2000-2010, despite a reverse trend in teen marriages, which is on the decline, according to the National Statistics Office (NSO).
In 2010, live births by teenage mothers registered with the NSO were 207,898, compared with 126,025 in 2000. On the other hand, teenage marriages registered with the agency shows a slow but steady decline from 14.8 per cent in 2000 to 13 percent in 2010.
The Department of Health said there is a high risk of maternal deaths among young mothers.
Dizon said Pineda's annual pregnancy summit held in various areas in Pampanga aimed to reduce the number of teenage pregnancies and maternal deaths.