Pills for men, condoms for women

CEBU CITY — Condoms for women and birth control pills for men are among the artificial methods of contraception that are expected to hit the Philippine market next year, a family planning advocate said here yesterday.

Dr. Ricardo Gonzales, medical adviser of the family planning Social Acceptance Project (SAP) of the Academy of Educational Development (AED), said pharmaceutical companies are expected to bring the devices into the country in 2005 to widen couples’ choices of contraceptives.

The choices will also include intrauterine devices (IUDs) with hormones, vaginal rings and patches.

"We have been encouraging the commercial sector to make these methods (of contraception) available in the Philippine market. When they are already in, our next concern would be to make it affordable for Filipino couples," Gonzales said.

Representatives of 95 government agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) are holding a three-day meeting here to discuss how they can increase awareness on the need to plan a family’s size.

SAP is a communication and advocacy project of the AED, which organized the meeting. The project aims to promote social acceptance of family planning in the Philippines and is funded by the United States Agency for International Development (USAID).

According to Gonzales, however, these five types of contraception are pricey and poor couples may be unable to afford them.

"Before the commercial sector was not keen on bringing these methods (in) because it would compete with the free contraceptives being distributed in the health centers. But they want to do it now," he said.

The supply of condoms in health centers is declining after USAID ceased donating female birth control pills to the Philippines last year. The last shipment of contraceptive pills donated by USAID will be made in 2007.

USAID decided to stop donating contraceptives after it felt the Philippines is relying too much on it. USAID began donating contraceptives to the Philippines decades ago.

The Arroyo administration has not earmarked even a single centavo for the purchase of contraceptives. The President is a devout Catholic and the Church is strongly opposed to any form of artificial family planning.

The national government leaves it up to local government units to buy their own supply of contraceptives.

To make these five new contraceptive devices affordable, AED is eyeing the possibility of seeking government subsidy and including them in the health insurance package offered by the Philippine Health Insurance Corp. (PhilHealth) to all Filipinos.

Just like male condoms, female condoms are elastic and are inserted into the vagina to block sperm from reaching the ova. Male contraceptive pills, on the other hand, are ingested by men to reduce their sperm count.

Gonzales said the hormones in the new IUDs the SAP seeks to promote help suppress ovulation or production of ova. The vaginal ring, which is inserted in the vagina, prevents pregnancy by releasing hormones that inhibit ovulation.

The patches, on the other hand, are put on body parts that have strong muscles. Once in place, the patches will stimulate these muscles to secrete hormones to prevent ovulation and release these hormones into the bloodstream.

He added that these devices have been proven to be safe and effective and are now available in the US, European countries and some countries in Asia, including Japan and Singapore.