Face the Facts, Pass the RH Bill

Ceredeña also  cited the NYC’s National Youth Assessment Study that revealed that unplanned pregnancy was one of the main reasons  young people do not complete their education.

The UNFPA study indicated the rate of teenage pregnancy in the country at 53 out of 1,000 Filipino women aged 15 – 19.

…The youth official is recommending “Age-appropriate reproductive health education” to address is problem.

Parents, have you talked with your kids? Talked WITH, not AT, not TO. Do they know and understand what sex is, how it’s done, and what could happen?

Without the RH Bill, without proper sex education, the worst can and will continue to happen. 

Face the facts today. 

Worth noting: “Experts couldn’t say whether more liberal laws led to fewer procedures, but said good access to birth control in those countries resulted in fewer unwanted pregnancies.”

A video by BBC.

BAGUIO CITY- Young Filipinos have been resorting to a concoction of detergent or bath soap plus cola drink, which they consume after engaging in premarital sex because they believe that the mixture can prevent the transmission of sexually-transmitted infections, a doctor revealed in this year’s national school health and nutrition congress here.

RH Bill not a priority? For how long? And how much longer do we let this go on?

Amnesty International-Philippines appealed to lawmakers not to let 2011 end without the much-needed measure being passed, saying not one more mother should suffer from preventable maternal death.

Aurora Parong, director of AI-Philippines, said Congress should pass the bill that would help millions of women prevent mistimed and unwanted pregnancies, and have safe pregnancies and child birth.

It could also help improve everyone’s enjoyment of sexual and reproductive rights and enhance personal and family relationships.

The bill, which has received staunch opposition from the Catholic Church, is being debated in the Congress, and there is no indication of when it could be put to a vote. Advocates for the bill have embarked on a series of activities to convince lawmakers to pass it soon.

“Ten years of waiting for the enactment of a reproductive health law is too long. Our lawmakers must get their acts together to enact the law before the year ends,” Parong said in a statement.

She also said preventable maternal deaths have been among the biggest problems affecting women in the country and in most developing countries.

A Global AIDS Report released recently by the UNAIDS observed there has been a 25 percent decline in HIV infections and AIDS-related illness and deaths, and that countries who have given enough funding and attention to the problem have stabilized the rise, spread and deaths caused by the virus.

Merceditas Apilado, a UNAIDS social mobilization adviser, said the Philippines is “one of the exceptions …and the number of HIV infections and AIDS cases in the country continues to rise, and not lessen.”