Saturday, May 4, 2013
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| The Problem |
Family Planning is an internationally proven strategy that helps
empower couples with the information and opportunity to plan and space their
children. This will not only strengthen the family as a unit but also optimize
care for children who will have more opportunities to be educated, healthy and
productive. Recent researches are shedding light on how family planning
increases survival, improves health, and helps achieve Millennium Development
Goals. Indeed, Family Planning is a smart, sensible, and vital component of
global health and development.
However, there are a number of challenges that stand in the way in
making contraceptives widely available and accessible. These challenges include
high cost of quality contraceptives, religious, cultural and knowledge barrier.
In rural areas, like in Pangulogon, modern contraceptives are often scarce, and
only few trained professionals are available to provide Family Planning
services. The distance of the place to the health unit also serves as an
obstacle. These are some reasons why there is a slow trend in reducing fertility
rate and increasing contraceptive prevalence rate, especially in far flung
areas.
Survey shows that in 2011, Barangay Pangulogon accounted only 32.7%
of contraceptive prevalence rate which is lower than the target of 70%. This
means that out of 58 couples in reproductive years, only 19 are using
contraceptive method. This is an alarming finding as this revealed that only
few couples used contraceptive methods and this reflects poor outcome of Family
Planning program in the place. This calls for an intensive campaign to make
contraceptive methods more accessible and available to the community. To bridge
the gap, the Team Pangulogon ADZU-SOM students spearheaded a Family Planning
Awareness Program among Mothers in reproductive years with the theme, “Responsableng
Maguang”, on April 12, 2013 at the Pangulogon Chapel. This was also our
response to the call of empowering mothers to make informed choices about the
use of contraceptive method and improve their quality of life. Fifty mothers
attended the activity and they were attentive as the medical students discussed
the goals, benefits, and Family Planning methods. Emphasis was made on the
effectiveness, side effects and complications of the available contraceptives
in the Rural Health Unit. It was also made clear that the lecture does not
enforce the use of contraception as the decision still lies in the hands of the
couple. Moreover, a consultation/counselling with a trained health professional
or a physician was advised before the use of any of the contraceptives
mentioned to avoid adverse side effects and complication. The activity was a success and we hoped that
we were able to give them enlightenment on Family Planning and the roles that
women actively play in its effective implementation.
