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Friday, March 29, 2024

Lack of healthcare workers may cause new surge in teen pregnancies – Popcom

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A POSSIBLE shortage in local healthcare workers could prevent the seamless continuation of maternal health and family planning services during the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), according to the Commission of Population and Development (Popcom).

On Saturday, Malacañang announced that the President has accepted the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases Resolution, recommending that Metro Manila and nearby provinces be placed under ECQ to prevent the further spread of Covid-19.

Undersecretary for Population and Development Juan Antonio Perez III told BusinessMirror over the weekend that the ECQ could strain local healthcare systems, prompting only a few health workers to deliver maternal health and family planning services.

“The mobility challenge may not be that hard for women, but the strain on local health systems will be worse. DOH (Department Health) and Popcom are both concerned that there may be few health workers able to provide services,” Perez told BusinessMirror.  

“The supply chain is more stable, but any extension will lead to further consequences up to the end of the year in terms of increased need for maternal health services and FP (Family Planning),” he added.

Perez noted that there are about 60,000 local health workers and 150,000 health volunteers in the public sector.

“As these personnel are devolved to 1,600 LGUs (Local Government Units) with different priorities set by mayors; we can only enjoin their support,” he added.

Perez said the ECQ that will take effect today, Monday, will affect a third of the country’s population. But the timeframe is “quite limited” compared to last year.

However, he said, much ground needs to be covered in terms of maternal health and family planning services, especially after last year’s two-month extreme lockdown.

Perez said the lockdown last year made the National Capital Region and surrounding provinces “the poorest performing” in reproductive health and family planning services.

This, he said, is equivalent to a two-year setback to 2018 levels, in terms of providing these essential services. Perez said this is based on initial reports from local governments.

“To reverse this, we intend to renew our partnership with LGUs for home delivery of appropriate FP commodities and secure the national and regional supply chain for FP,” Perez told BusinessMirror.

Teen pregnancy rise

Earlier estimates made by the University of the Philippines Population Institute (UPPI) showed that the lockdowns increased teen pregnancies by 21.04 percent.

Based on the UPPI estimates, the community quarantines will lead to 102,000 adolescents aged 15 to 19 year old to become pregnant. This is 18,000 more than the 84,000 expected teen pregnancies, without the lockdowns.

One of the things that should also be monitored with this number, Perez said, is the observation that there is a high chance of a second or third pregnancy following.

With this, Perez said, there is a need to attain zero repeat pregnancies nationwide. In order to address this, Perez said that apart from national governments, the LGUs have an important role to play to prevent even more adolescents from getting pregnant.

Read full article on BusinessMirror

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