By Joseph B.A. Marzan
The coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic may have affected the operations of the Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM)-6 but it also prompted the agency to take advantage of the situation.
One of the areas affected by the pandemic is collection of data on adolescent pregnancies in the region and other information that are vital to their activities, POPCOM-6 Director Harold Marshall told Daily Guardian on Air on Friday.
Data on adolescent pregnancies, which are more commonly known as “teenage pregnancies”, are regularly collected by the health sector led by the Department of Health (DOH) and submitted to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) and POPCOM.
Adolescent pregnancies refer to young girls who conceived at ages 10 to 19 years. But Marshall said the age group even extended to as young as 9 years old in one unrecorded instance in the region.
But for 2020, Marshall said the data had yet to be finished due to the limited movements amid Covid-19 lockdowns.
“The 2020 data is a bit more difficult because of Covid-19. Our health personnel cannot move properly and gather data to submit to the DOH, who also submits it to the PSA, so they are still gathering it,” Marshall said.
He noted a downward trend in adolescent pregnancies in recent years, but only by four in 2019.
He cited several reasons for the slow decline in pregnancies, such as sociological factors like family and friends, psychological factors like peer pressure, and the lack of accurate information.
“In 2019, compared to 2018 and even 2017, the incidence of adolescent pregnancy had been going down in Region 6, but slow and minimal. When you compare the 2018 and 2019 data, it did go down but only by 4 adolescents. We can say that it is an improvement but not meeting what we intended to, because we want it to be a greater reduction in adolescent pregnancy,” Marshall said.
Despite the hindrance posed by the Covid-19 pandemic on their data, he said that the POPCOM-6 has been taking advantage of the situation to ramp up their campaigns against unwanted adolescent pregnancies.
With the youth staying at home and hooked to the internet because of online classes, POPCOM-6 is using social media to reach out to them.
“We in the Commission on Population and Development are focusing on both male and female teenagers, giving them equal attention, equal delivery of information through social media because there are lockdowns. How do we gather them because they aren’t face to face (meetings)? The POPCOM is continuing to do what we can to give out information to these sectors in our society, which are the teenagers,” he said.
Marshall assured that POPCOM’s family planning program respects cultural sensitivities and would not force anyone to follow a certain method as they prefer the concept of informed consent.
“The program of the Commission on Population and Development is culturally-sensitive. We respect the culture and behavior of one group and their beliefs. Our program is based on the concept of informed choice and volunteerism. You’ll give them all of the information, and they make the choice to accept the program or not, and that’s where the volunteerism comes in,” he said.
Marshall reminded adolescents to practice respect in their relationships, saying that sexual activity should not be forced just because of celebrations like Valentine’s Day.
“It’s nice to be in love, but it doesn’t stop in loving, but also respecting, so lovers should not just force themselves just because it’s Valentine’s Day and they would have to make untoward decisions. They have to respect one another. Love one another, yes of course, but also respect one another. That is what we have to put in mind. If there is respect, there is also love, and there is nothing better in showing your love to another person than by respecting them,” he said.
Marshall also called on the public to collaborate with POPCOM-6 in lowering adolescent pregnancies in the region.
“The challenge is not only for the [POPCOM], so we have to help each other because teenage pregnancies are a complicated issue, so there has to be many agencies, national and local, and private parties who should help each other out to solve this issue we have been facing since the beginning until today. We have to give solutions and timely responses to these,” he said.