Philippines-27th Session May 2017-Contraception

Para 79) The State, valuing the importance of accessible and safe reproductive health services, has enacted laws on: (a) Ensuring universal access to health services, including sexual and reproductive health (SRH) for women and girls; and (b) Mandating the Department of Health (DOH) to provide SRH services, including contraception, to all persons of reproductive age. Para 80) Since 2016, the State, through the DOH, undertook efforts to reduce incidences of unsafe abortion and maternal mortality by providing family planning commodities to women of reproductive age, conducting maternal death reviews, and integrating family planning in other health programs. Para 82) To allow continued access to SRH services in the early months of the pandemic in 2020, the DOH issued guidelines “on the continuous provision of family planning services during Enhanced Community Quarantine and allotment of funds for the procurement of family planning commodities.” Para 83) Recognizing the needs of adolescents on SRH, the DepEd, DOH, and Commission on Population and Development launched the Convergence of the Comprehensive Sexuality Education and Adolescent Reproductive Health Program in 2021 as part of the whole-of-government response to adolescent pregnancies and other reproductive health issues among young people. The DOH also released the Omnibus Health Guidelines for Adolescents in 2022, which recommended interventions and services for adolescents, including vaccinations and family planning methods and commodities.