More volunteers out for family planning

Thursday 14th of June 2012

BUTUAN CITY, June 14 (PIA) -- Responding to the demands for family planning services, barangay volunteers all over Caraga region will be trained and mobilized in various activities to assist couples in achieving their reproductive intentions.

The Commission on Population has designed training for the Barangay Service Point officers (BSPOs) to capacitate them in the Identification and Motivation of Married Couples of Reproductive Ages (MCRA) towards family planning.

“Part of our commitment to reduce the unmet need for family planning by 50 percent at the end of this year, we need to mobilize all stakeholders, especially the BSPOs, as they are the ones closest to these couples who can easily deliver appropriate information in matters relating to being responsible parents and planning their families,” POPCOM Director Camilo S. Pangan said.

Government official defined unmet need for family planning as the proportion of currently married women who do not want any more children or prefer to space births but are not using any method of family planning.

“The top reasons identified on high unmet need indicate lack of correct information which can be addressed when we able to mobilize the BSPOs in coordination with other health service providers in the field. That is why we need to equip and update them with appropriate training for them to be effective in creating demand for family planning services,” Pangan added

The training, organized in two batches, will focus in the priority provinces of Surigao del Norte and Surigao del Sur which are considered food poor areas.

Dinagat Islands and Surigao City will be part of Surigao del Norte while the cities of Tandag and Bislig will be part of Surigao del Sur. Said trainings will be done simultaneously on the first week of July at Tandag City for Surigao del Sur areas and at Mabua, Surigao City for Surigao del Norte areas.

Data on high unmet need for family planning in the region is still evident in the latest Family Health survey posted at 20.4, higher than the national figure which is 19.3 percent.

Several studies pointed that poor women continue to produce more children than they wanted. They also exhibited the lowest contraceptive use.

Top reasons for this high unmet need among the poor are fear of side effects on family planning methods and myths and misconception about family planning in general. Other causes include poor access to FP services, husband’s objection and LGU support. (NCLM/Rutchie Corvera-Saluta/POPCOM-Caraga/PIA-Caraga)