Only 20% of donated pills to go to rich LGUs

Only 20 percent of the total quantity of pills donated by the United States Agency for International Development will be distributed to the richest local government units, this year according to the Department of Health.

While only 20 percent will be distributed to the richest LGUs in the country, 30 percent will be distributed to the middle income LGUs, and 50 percent will be given to the poorest in the first and second quarters of this year.

For the third and fourth quarters, the richest sector of LGUs will not get anything anymore from the donated pills of the USAID. Twenty percent will still be given to the middle income LGUs while 30 will still be given to the poorest.

As presented by Honorata Catibog, director III of the National Center for Disease Prevention and Control of the DOH, no more pills will be given to richest and middle income LGUs by next year. However, thirty percent will be given out to the poorest sector.

For injectables, there will still be a 60-percent distribution, from the donations, for this year to the richest municipalities. Seventy percent will still go to the middle-income-earning LGUs, while 80 percent will go to the poorest.

For the third and fourth quarters, there will be a decrease of the contraceptive dole-outs wherein 40 percent will be given to the richest sector and 60 will be for the middle-income-earning LGU.

Seventy percent will be given to the Batch 3 LGUs or the poorest. This will continue to decrease in the preceding years until the gradual phase out will be implemented.

For more than thirty years, USAID has supported this important health program through the donation of various types and necessary quantities of contraceptives used by couples, choosing among different methods of family planning delivered by Philippine health care providers.

Towards the achievement of self reliance, USAID has began the phase-down of its donations which will end in 2008 with the complete phase-out of all donated supplies of condoms, pills and injectables. There are no plans yet on the phasing out of donations of intra-uterine devices.

To address the foreseen problem of unmet needs should the gradual phase-out will be implemented, DOH and the concerned agencies have implemented measures.

According to Catibog, the Philippine government intends to build this action by the donors through the formulation and implementation by the DOH of a contraceptive self reliance strategy, which among others provides the orderly transition from externally donated contraceptives to domestically provided commodities for family planning.

CSR is a set of measures to assure that supplies for family planning services will continue to be provided for increasing numbers of current and potential users to eventually eliminate unmet needs. - Jasmin R. Uy