PLAN YOUR FAMILY RIGHT, FUTURE OF CHILDREN IS BRIGHT!

Press Release | August 15, 2022

This August, the Department of Health Central Luzon Center for Health Development (DOH CLCHD) celebrates one of the fundamental health programs – Family Planning Month. This celebration aims to feature family planning as a positive, life-affirming choice that couples can make with proper education and access to services. The program further ensures that each Filipino child is born to parents, who are both ready physically, emotionally, financially and have carefully planned the birth of their child.

In 2021, the region has recorded 25.36% modern Contraceptive Prevalence Rate (mCPR) or 831,653 women (15-49 years old) using modern family planning methods while 25.73% or 855,459 women were recorded in 2022, second quarter. An increasing trend is noted despite the restrictions and challenges brought by the pandemic.

In Central Luzon, pills remain the most commonly used FP method followed by the injectable. Conversely, modern natural FP methods have the least number of users, while confronts and no-scalpel vasectomy (NSV) only comprise 3% (17,054) of the current users. Among all provinces, Aurora consistently maintained the highest mCPR at 39.8%, followed by Tarlac (29.5%) and Nueva Ecija (28.3%).

The DOH CLCHD together with its stakeholders and partners, work to ensure that the desired number of mCPR is reached, and reduce the unmet need of women in the region for modern FP through heightened communication campaigns and strategies. Although the DOH continually provide technical assistance to local government units (LGUs) to ensure availability and ease of access to the Family Planning (FP) services in the community, it remains to be one of the neglected services by couples. Continuous provision of health education even during the pandemic that tackles the different family planning methods, its benefits and how it can allow them to achieve personal, educational, and economic goals without the feeling of shame and embarrassment is the advocacy of the health department. It is a must to increase the awareness and usage of the different FP methods available.

“The DOH assists couples in ensuring that families are able to achieve their desired family size using the different modern family planning methods according to their socio-economic, emotional, and psychological capacity. The health department instills the principle of responsible parenthood through modern FP methods. Responsible parenthood begins with carefully planning the size of our family and ensuring couples have the capacity to raise children – dahil ang pamilyang planado, protektado!” said DOH CLCHD OIC-Director Corazon Flores.