Palace welcomes business groups’ support for RH

MANILA, Philippines - Malacañang welcomed yesterday the support of big business groups for the reproductive health (RH) bill and the assurance that they would back the projects for its effective implementation.

Deputy presidential spokesperson Abigail Valte said the passage of the RH bill would help the Philippines achieve its health-related targets in the Millennium Development Goals.

However, Valte said it would be up to the lawmakers to respond to the businessmen’s statement of support.

“That will depend on the congressmen on how they will take that push from the big companies that have banded together,” she said.

The country’s six biggest business groups called on the Senate and the House of Representatives to “pass into law without further delay “ the Responsible Parenthood, Reproductive Health and Population and Development Act of 2011, as embodied in House Bill 4244 and Senate Bill 2865.

The business groups also committed to mobilize investment in family planning and other reproductive health services.

These include provision of family planning services and reproductive health services to employees and their families through the Family Welfare Program in the workplace as mandated by Article 134 of the Labor Code and other relevant programs; implement FP program in the communities of corporate social responsibility and promote the establishment of FP as a “core business or as a social enterprise to facilitate provision of FP services,” among others.

The business groups said they “strongly believe that government must encourage responsible parenthood and promote family planning as a direct strategy for poverty reduction and maternal and child healthcare.”

The six groups are the Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Employer’s Confederation of the Philippines, Makati Business Club, Management Association of the Philippines, Financial Executives of the Philippines and Philippine Business for Social Progress.

The declaration of support for family planning was in response to a challenge from the United Nations Population Fund, which said family planning is a good investment that could yield “unprecedented reward for economic development.”

Meanwhile, the 2012 State of the World Population Report showed that around 222 million women in developing countries do not have access to “reliable, high-quality family planning services, information and supplies” putting them at risk of unintended pregnancies.

Prepared by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), the report said only 645 million of the 867 million women of childbearing age in developing nations have access to modern contraceptives.

These women do not want to get married for at least the next two years but are not using a method, the report said.

“This is inexcusable. Family planning is a human right. It must therefore be available to all who want it. But clearly, this right has not yet been extended to all, especially in the poorest countries,” the UNFPA said. 

The report said providing contraceptives to the current 645 million users costs $4 billion a year. An additional $3 billion will be needed to provide for the needs of the 222 million.

“Meeting the need for modern contraception, coupled with improving the quality of services will raise the average annual cost per user in the developing world from $6.15 to $9.31. The cost of meeting the unmet need is highest in sub-Saharan Africa and the poorest countries of other regions where capacities for delivering services are weakest,” the UNFPA noted. 

The agency said access to family planning might be restricted by certain “forces” including poverty, negative social pressures, gender inequality and discrimination.”

“Ensuring universal access to voluntary family planning is a matter of protecting human rights. But it is also a matter of economic and social development,” the UNFPA added.

Investing in family planning, the agency said, “helps reduce poverty, improve health, promote gender equality, enable adolescents to finish their schooling and increase labor force participation.”

“When a woman is able to exercise her reproductive rights, she is more able to benefit from her other rights, such as the right to education. The results are higher incomes, better health for her and her children and greater decision-making power for her, both in the household and the community. When women and men together plan their childbearing, children benefit immediately and in their long-term prospects,” the UNFPA added. –With Sheila Crisostomo