MB okays $16-M loan for women’s health program

The Monetary Board, the policy-making body of the Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas (BSP), has approved the release of a $16-million World Bank (WB) loan to the National Government.

BSP Governor and MB chairman Amando Tetangco Jr. said proceeds from the loan would be utilized for the advancement of the welfare of Filipino women, particularly on health concerns.

Tetangco said the 20-year loan to the Philippines will have a grace period of eight years.

Under the WB’s Women’s Health and Safe Motherhood Project, the Department of Health (DOH) successfully pilot-tested an alternative cervical cancer screening method that costs less and is more acceptable (less invasive) to women than the Pap smear method.

Called the Acetic Acid Wash Method (AAW), it can be performed by almost anyone, in almost any setting, using only equipment such as a light source, a speculum, a source of acetic acid (household vinegar) and, optionally, a gynoscope. With the AAW, only positive cases using this test will then be referred for Pap smear, hence reducing the number of needed Pap smear tests.

The DOH is now pushing for the issuance of a health policy adopting the use of AAW for cervical cancer screening. Groups such as the Philippine Society of Cervical Pathology and Colposcopy, the Society of Gynecologic Oncologists of the Philippines, and the Philippine Obstetrics and Gynecologic Society have already issued statements supporting the screening method.

The WB has embarked on a major shift in its lending strategy in the Philippines.

Almost half of its current and prospective program consists of community-driven development projects that actively involve communities in the design, implementation, and management of development activities that affect them.

The thrust of these projects is poverty alleviation through community investment, and building of local capacity to manage development.