Reproductive Health in the Philippines

The United Nations Millennium Goal Number 5 has two targets.

1. Reduce by three quarters the maternal mortality ratio
2. Achieve universal access to reproductive health

How's this working out in the Philippines?  Here are some stats:

• 11 Filipino women die everyday from a treatable complication of pregnancy. 
• 4,950 Filipino unintended babies are born everyday to 5,205 Filipino women 
• 1,530 Filipino women induce abortion everyday.

I think it is safe to say that the Philippines is not nailing goal number 5!  EU Ambassador Alistair MacDonald agrees stating that "there is very very little progress in terms of maternal health."

So what are Filipinos doing to reduce the aforementioned dire statistics?

There is a controversial bill before parliament called the Reproductive Health (RH) bill.  The bill would help the Philippines achieve MDG number 5.  It aims to guarantee universal access to methods and information on birth control and maternal care.

Proponents of the bill argue that high fertility rates exacerbate poverty, as born out by studies in other parts of Asia.

Opponents state that there is no correlation between fertily rates and poverty.

Let's check out this graph (produced by the excellent Gapminder tool developed by Hans Rowling).It shows Fertility Rates vs. Income per person.    Continents are coloured coded and the size of the circle indicates population size.  I've highlighted the Philippines and Canada.  Check out the graph yourself here.

The Philippines has a fertility rate of 3.03 (births per woman) and a an average income of $3,204.

Canada, by comparison, has a fertility rate of 1.58 and an average income of $34,570.

And as you can see from the graph, those with high fertility rates are stuck the left of the graph with low incomes, while those with low fertility rates are along the bottom of the graph with high incomes.

We here at Meaningful Volunteer are aligned ourselves with MDG number 5 and the research.

We're working hard in the small rural island of Romblon to assist ladies to voluntarily reduce there fertility rates via our Project Lifecycle.  Come along and volunteer and help us out!

What do you think? Is the Philippines on the right track?