MANILA, Philippines - Sen. Miriam Defensor-Santiago has filed a resolution seeking government mandate to provide health mechanisms in each barangay to oversee the health of pregnant women.
Santiago filed Senate Resolution 911 to address the alarming rise of premature births and preterm deaths in the country.
She cited a United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) report, which ranks the Philippines eighth out of 184 countries in terms of number of premature births.
Out of the 2.3 million births in the country in 2010, a total of 348,900 were premature deliveries. The figure translates to a premature birth of 14.9 percent, the 12th highest in the world, according to the UNICEF report.
“It is even more alarming that 14,200 of those born prematurely die due to complications, which makes the Philippines the 14th country globally with the highest death rate due to problems arising from preterm births,†Santiago said.