Due to harmonized interventions and quick responses from national and local government and development partners, many Filipinos were still able to avail of family planning (FP) and HIV prevention services despite the effects of Covid-19 on the country’s health system.
Health Secretary Francisco T. Duque III said that as the Covid-19 pandemic continues to loom over the globe, the utter enormity of its scale has impacted even the reproductive behaviors of the Filipino individuals, “thus it is paramount that we ensure that family planning services and other essential sexual and reproductive health services are continually accessible to the public.”
“These health services need to continue both in the community and in health facilities. However, more than that, we need to take the steps necessary to promote greater openness towards these topics surrounding family planning. Through conversations, we ultimately create awareness on the importance and benefits of family planning in promoting the overall health and well-being of the population. May we be relentless in our pursuit of stimulating open discussions that promote Masayang Pamilya and Healthy Pilipinas,” he added.
HIV
To ensure the continuous delivery of essential services to patients during the enforcement of community quarantines, the Department of Health (DOH) said that it had adopted innovative approaches in the country’s HIV program like providing refills of the antiretroviral (ARV) drug which is used to treat HIV.
The DOH said that drug refills can be even by accessed by transient patients, employing client-centered approaches for pick-up and delivery of this HIV medication, such as the use of available courier services, government vehicles, transport network vehicle services, and home delivery.
Regional HIV Helplines were established for various referral needs of displaced and stranded PLHIVs or People Living with HIV within and outside the respective regions operated by community-based organizations.
In 2020, the DOH designated 56 primary HIV care facilities and 107 treatment hubs, or a total of 163 facilities nationwide, to provide HIV services, including free antiretroviral drugs.
Program implementers are also expected to support HIV treatment facility expansion this year through the continuous provision of quality services and the appropriate use of the PhilHealth Outpatient HIV/AIDS Treatment fund packages.
The DOH said that there are 77,882 cumulative cases of HIV as of April 2020, and 45,444 of them are already on life-long treatment.
Family planning
In support of FP services delivery, the DOH and the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM), with support from the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), rolled out the harmonized FP communication plans that maximized online communication and digital platforms.
This includes a series of online campaigns launched in celebration of the National Family Planning Month this August within the context of sexual and reproductive health during health crises, sexually transmitted infections (STIs), informed choice and responsible parenthood, and adolescent health and development.
Moreover, the DOH and USAID assisted 146 government hospitals in establishing their FP programs that addressed the needs of postpartum women interested to practice FP right after delivery.
In 2020, the DOH allotted around P410 million for the procurement of FP commodities, a 33-percent hike from previous year’s budget allotment. POPCOM augmented the commodity requirements during the same period.
As a result, the country’s FP users in 2020 increased by 460,000, an increase of six percent from the previous year’s users, and this brought the total to around 8.1 million, according to the DOH. New acceptors of FP also increased by 43 percent, despite a number of dropouts caused by the series of lockdowns and quarantines nationwide.
In the pipeline
To keep the momentum going for agencies behind the FP programs and HIV prevention in the backdrop of Covid-19, the DOH, POPCOM and USAID are set to roll out more innovative communication initiatives which will encourage more Filipino couples to seek FP information and services.
One of these efforts is a video which will be turned into TV and radio advertisements. The video was launched during the “Usap Tayo sa Family Planning” experts’ joint online dialogue with the DOH and POPCOM last August 18.
According to the DOH, the new communication campaign materials take a “fresh and positive spin” on FP through song and dance.
The catchy lyrics are designed to address fear and anxieties that are barriers to FP use, as indicated in a USAID-supported formative research.
Developments on FP and HIV prevention
Regarding the overall developments on FP and HIV prevention in the country, POPCOM Executive Director Juan Antonio Perez III said, “The pandemic heavily bore down on our medical and health-care systems, especially those directly involving FP delivery and HIV services.”
“However, the collective energies of government institutions and their allied institutions did not succumb to the challenges of the times,” he said.
He stressed : Together with the leadership of the DOH and the USAID, I call on all our partners to press on with our work at hand, so that we can continue to further improve the quality of lives of the Filipino families whom we are mandated to serve.”