Save the Children calls on Members of the Philippine Congress

to save children’s and women’s lives through the immediate passage of the Reproductive Health Bill Save the Children, a child rights organization with programs in 120 countries including the Philippines, calls for the urgent passage of the Reproductive Health (RH) Bill, which it views as an obligation of the Philippine government to fulfil children’s rights as enshrined in the United Nations (UN) Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC). The Philippines signed and ratified the CRC in 1990. The need to uphold and fulfil the right of every child to survival and development Save the Children believes that the provisions in the Reproductive Health Bill (RH Bill), will help promote the right of mothers and children, particularly adolescent girls, to quality of life, health and development. Article 24 of the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) guarantees the right of every child to “the highest attainable standard of health” and states that governments must ensure that children are not deprived of their right to have access to health care services. Article 2 of the CRC states that all children should enjoy these rights without discrimination regardless of age, sex and status. CRC General Comment No. 4 further states that “adolescent girls should have access to information on the harm that early marriage and early pregnancy can cause, and those who become pregnant should have access to health services that are sensitive to their rights and particular needs.” Governments are also urged to “take measures to reduce maternal morbidity and mortality in adolescent girls, particularly caused by early pregnancy and unsafe abortion practices, and to support adolescent parents.” In its 2009 Concluding Observations to the Philippines State Party Report to the CRC, the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has cited the inadequacy of reproductive health services and information, the low rates of contraceptive use and the lack of access to artificial methods of contraception as contributing to the high rates of teenage pregnancies and maternal deaths in the Philippines. In the same document, the Committee urges the Philippine Government to adopt “as a matter of urgency” the Reproductive Health Bill, prevent teenage pregnancy by ensuring all adolescents have access to reproductive health counselling and to “accurate and objective information and culturally sensitive services”; and strengthen sex education for girls and boys in both formal and informal education systems with focus on preventing early pregnancies and STIs, and on family planning. Lack of access of young people to age appropriate Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health (ASRH) information in school According to data from the 2002 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFSS3 2002), 15.7% of youth says that they can talk about sex at home. However, more young people access information about sex and sexuality from their classmates and friends who may not have basic knowledge on adolescent sexual and reproductive health (ASRH) themselves. Some explore the Internet for information. There are no guarantees though that young people are able to get age-appropriate, scientifically-based, gender sensitive and accurate information from these sources. The YAFSS3 also reveal that 55% of adolescents have access to pornographic reading materials and X-rated films/videos. The same study cites that 23% of youth have already engaged in sexual activity. Without correct and adequate information and access to adolescent-/youth-friendly sexual and reproductive health services, young people are placed at risk of unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections due to early and unprotected sexual activity. Given this, a rights-based and gender sensitive health and sexuality education among adolescents is important to be made part of the school curriculum and of other learning centers catering to young people. Maternal Deaths have not improved over the last ten years Despite efforts of the Department of Health to reduce maternal deaths, maternal mortality rate in the Philippines has not recorded any improvements over the last ten years. Maternal mortality rate registers at 162 deaths per 100,000 live births from 2000 to 2005 and is now 221 deaths for every 100,000 live births from 2006-2010. This figure is substantially below the target of the United Nations Millennium Development Goal (MDG), which is 54 maternal deaths per 100,000 live births by 2015. This figure even surpasses 1995 levels. This can be partly attributed to the low contraceptive prevalence rate (roughly 50%), which grew by just 10% in the last 15 years and the low rate of (nearly four in ten women) deliveries that are attended by skilled health personnel. Equally alarming is the fact that 20% of maternal deaths in the country were among adolescents and a substantial number of these adolescent maternal deaths are abortion related. The study, Every Woman’s Righti, reports that the risk of maternal death is twice as likely for teenage girls than for women in their 20s. About 50,000 teenage girls worldwide die during pregnancy or childbirth, often because their bodies are not yet fully developed and because they are prone to pregnancy complications. Clearly, proper reproductive health services, including appropriate family planning services can prevent the deaths of mothers, especially teenage children who are dying in childbirth because their bodies are not ready for it. As a result, the rank of the Philippines in the Mother’s Indexii in Save the Children’s thirteenth State of the World’s Mothers report dropped to the 52nd position under the developing countries category from 49th in 2011. The index ranks 165 countries for being the best and worst places in the world to be a mother. The new ranking is evidence of the continued deterioration of women’s and maternal health in the country resulting from inadequate investment on family planning education and effective contraception, as well as inadequate access to affordable reproductive and maternal health services. Pregnancy among young girls has been growing over the last ten years and places their infants at higher risk of dying Pregnancy among Filipina girls aged between 15-19 years has been growing by over 70% over the last decade and is now estimated at 53 births per 1,000 Filipina women (UNFPA report, 2011), making the Philippines the country with highest rate of teenage pregnancies in the ASEAN region. This also means that 10% of all births in the country occur to teenage mothers (15-19 years old), 10% of 18 year old girls are already mothers and 30% of Filipino women are mothers before they reach the age of 21.iii Adolescent pregnancies have serious social, economic and psychological impact particularly on girls. Young mothers, who generally have lower levels of educational attainment, and come from the rural areas and from families belonging to low income groups, are even more severely affected. Most of them are driven deeper into poverty and further marginalization iv Girls who get pregnant are often forced to drop out of school and shy away from social activities. They also experience discrimination and are often stigmatized in their communities. In many cases, children who have become parents immediately lose their childhood and are treated as adults. Thus, they are no longer provided special care and protection to which they are entitled as children. These children are also unable to go back to school and become exposed to exploitation, trafficking and hazardous work. Unplanned pregnancy is among the main reasons young people do not complete their education.v The study, Every Woman’s Right, further revealed that babies born to mothers under 18 years old have a 60% risk of dying in the first year of life compared to a baby born to a mother older than 19. This has resulted in one million babies dying a year, which accounts for one-fifth of the global infant death. Unintended pregnancies are common and can lead to abortion Globally, one in four births is unintended because 222 million girls and women in developing countries who want to delay or avoid having children do not have access to effective methods of contraception. In the Philippines, according to the study conducted by the Guttmacher Institute in 2006, 6 in 10 Filipino women experienced an unintended pregnancy at some point in their lives and about 1.43 million pregnancies each year—nearly half of all pregnancies in the Philippines—are unintended. An estimated one-third of women who experience an unintended pregnancy end it in abortion. This translates into an annual rate of 4.5 abortions for every 1,000 women of reproductive age. About 54% of these women who have ended an unintended pregnancy by abortion were not using any family planning method when they conceived. Unsafe abortions often put women’s life and health in jeopardy. Eight in 10 women who succeed in ending their pregnancy have health complications, and more than half of these women report having severe complications. An estimated 800 women per year die from complications of unsafe abortion. Increased use of effective contraceptives would help women achieve their desired family size, and thus prevent many unintended pregnancies, which, in turn, would reduce the need for abortion and the grave health consequences and costs of unsafe abortion.vi Save the Children believes that the Reproductive Health Bill will ensure that women and girls have access to reproductive health information and services. The passage of the RH Bill will also ensure that the government will invest in having adequate number of midwives, community health workers, emergency obstetric care facilities, mobile health services, as well as ensure access to correct information, adequate  i Every Woman’s Right is a publication of Save the Children. ii The ranking is based on a combination of factors such as maternal health, education and economic status, as well as critical child indicators like health and nutrition. iii National Demographic and Health Survey, 2008 iv Growing up Global: The Changing Transitions to Adulthood in Developing Countries (National Research Council, 2005) v NYC National Youth Assessment, 2010 vi Susheela Singh, Fatima Juarez, Josefina Cabigon, Haley Ball, Rubina Hussain and Jennifer Nadeau, “Unintended Pregnancy and Induced Abortion in the Philippines: Causes and Consequences”, Guttmacher Institute, 2006. The primary data for this report is based on the 2004 National Survey of Women conducted by the Guttmacher Institute and the University of the Philippines Population Institute as well as information from hospitals. services and affordable family planning commodities. Save the Children believes that maternal and infant mortality rates can only be reduced through effective actions that increase access to safe, affordable, appropriate, and effective reproductive health services. The RH Bill will help provide better chances for the survival and well-being of our mothers and infants. For the sake of Filipino women and children, pass the RH Bill Now! Contact More info/All media inquiries: Angel Tiamson-Saceda, Communications Officer, Save the Children angel.saceda@savethechildren.org | +63 9178590759 Notes Save the Children is the world’s leading independent organization for children. We work in 120 countries. We save children’s lives; we fight for their rights; we help them fulfill their potential. We work together, with our partners, to inspire breakthroughs in the way the world treats children and to achieve immediate and lasting change in their lives. In 2011, Save the Children directly reached over 700,000 Filipino children with its programs in health, nutrition, education, protection and child rights, also in times of humanitarian crises. More information is available here: www.savethechildren.net