Cayetano pushes for urgent approval of RH bill

MANILA, Philippines - After learning about the latest data showing an increase in maternal deaths in the country, Sen. Pia Cayetano is now pushing for urgent approval of the Reproductive Health (RH) bill to address this concern.

Citing the findings in the 2011 family health survey of the National Statistics Office, Cayetano argued that the country’s high maternal mortality rate (MMR) “underscores the urgency to pass the RH bill.”

Based on the survey, the country’s MMR went up to 221 deaths for every 100,000 live births in 2010 compared to 162 deaths in 2006.

“During the past decade the bill has been stalled in Congress, our MMR has not declined. In fact it has increased to 221 deaths per 100,000 live births from 162 deaths from the period 2000-2005,” Cayetano said.

According to Cayetano, the figures in the family health survey were way off the country’s target to reduce MMR to 52 by 2015 as contained in the Millennium Development Goals.

The RH bill, which is pending approval on second reading at the Senate, was principally authored by Cayetano and Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago.

Cayetano, chair of the Senate committees on health and demography and youth, women and family relations, has been fighting for the approval of the RH bill in the Senate, which she said would help save lives and improve the lives of families, particularly the very poor.

The bill was debated for several months in the Senate and appeared to be headed for the legislative graveyard — the archives — until the last week before the adjournment of session when the period of interpellation was terminated.

The amendments to the bill would be taken up when Congress resumes session next month after which it would be put to a vote.

A number of senators have been very critical of the bill, including Senate Majority Leader Vicente Sotto III and Senate President Juan Ponce Enrile.

Sotto claimed that several powerful organizations are behind the bill, including the contraceptive manufacturers and even groups that promote abortion, which is illegal in the country.

Cayetano said that she is counting on President Aquino to reiterate his support for the bill’s passage in his forthcoming State of the Nation Address next month.

Meanwhile, a non-government organization yesterday blamed the country’s lack of reproductive health policy for the continuous rise in maternal deaths in the country.

“The lack of a national policy that will provide comprehensive services on RH and family planning as one of the major reasons why maternal mortality rate has not declined in the past decade,” Philippine Legislators Committee on Population and Development Foundation, Inc. executive director Romeo Dongeto said.

Dongeto lamented that through the years, access to family planning services in the country remains a challenge.

“The decision to provide RH and FP (family planning) education and services is left to local government officials. It has left the impression that MNCHN is optional,” Dongeto explained.

“We do not claim that the enactment of the RH bill will address all maternal health related issues, but a law on RH will help resolve the lack of access to RH and FP education and services among women, especially the poor,” Dongeto said.

Albay Rep. Edcel Lagman also pointed out that the considerable increase in maternal deaths has “elevated the problem of maternal mortality to both a public health concern and a social justice issue.”

Lagman said the government can help save women’s lives by simply ensuring the widespread access to contraception and family planning information to avoid unintended and high risk pregnancies; regular pre-natal checkups; skilled attendance during delivery and adequate postpartum care; and timely and quality obstetric services in emergency cases.

He said all these are provided for in the RH bills pending before the House of Representatives and the Senate. — With Helen Flores, Paolo Romero