Decline of childbearing minors sought
DoH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier reported that the adolescent birth rate in the Philippines is now at 25 per 1,000 women — already beyond the 2022 target of 37 per 1,000 women
Daily TribuneDoH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier reported that the adolescent birth rate in the Philippines is now at 25 per 1,000 women — already beyond the 2022 target of 37 per 1,000 women
Senator Win Gatchalian
A lawmaker on Thursday stressed that the government should take into consideration a recent report by the United Nations Population Fund that childbearing minors are less likely to complete their primary education.
Senator Sherwin Gatchalian — who chairs the Senate Committee on Basic Education said there is a need to "strengthen sexuality education" among Filipinos and sustain the gains of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act of 2012 as well as to further push for the decline of teenage pregnancy in the country.
The lawmaker also cited in the forum — organized by the Philippine Legislators' Committee on Population and Development, the UNFPA and the Commission on Population and Development, in collaboration with the Department of Health — the high number of teenage pregnancies remains the country's one of the underlying problems.
DoH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire earlier reported that the adolescent birth rate in the Philippines is now at 25 per 1,000 women — already beyond the 2022 target of 37 per 1,000 women.
The UNFPA also flagged that adolescent who gets pregnant before the age of 18 is "less likely to complete their education."
This made Gatchalian propose Senate Resolution 13, which seeks to assess the comprehensiveness and effectiveness of the Department of Education's current policy on Comprehensive Sexuality Education.
The University of the Philippines-Population Institute's 2021 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study report — posted on 14 October 2022 — showed more than 386,000 or 6.8 percent of Filipino girls aged 15 to 19 years old have begun childbearing.
