141st APHA Annual Meeting

In This section

288831
Challenges and opportunities in preventing teenage pregnancies in the Philippines

Tuesday, November 5, 2013

Carlo Irwin Panelo, Dr , Department of Clinical Epidemiology, University of the Philippines Manila College of Medicine, Manila, Philippines
The teenage pregnancy rate in the Philippines is among the highest in Asean with 53 births per 1,000 women aged between 15 and 19 years. This is 38 percent higher compared to the rate in 2006 that was reported at 39 per 1,000 women. The rise in teenage pregnancies have been attributed to the lack of age-appropriate information and services on reproductive health, particularly family planning. The lack of information and services was particularly damaging among teenagers in the poorest income quintile, whose pregnancy rates are nearly twenty times higher than that of the richest income group. The passage of the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health Act is expected to spur various initiatives to prevent unwanted pregnancies, particularly among teenagers. The law provides for age appropriate education on RH and defines specific conditions when teenagers can access reproductive health services even without parental consent. It is expected however that interventions to prevent teenage pregnancies will be controversial, hence the need to carefully select culturally-appropriate approaches that have proven effective in other country settings.

Learning Areas:
Provision of health care to the public
Public health or related public policy

Learning Objectives:
Compare rates of teenage pregnancies over time Discuss factors influencing teenage pregnancies Describe interventions that can address teenage pregnancies

Keywords: Teen Pregnancy, Reproductive Health

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: I have worked on the area of reproductive health in my capacity as faculty member of the College of Medicine teaching health policy and as consultant/adviser to the Philippine Department of Health.
Any relevant financial relationships? Yes

Name of Organization Clinical/Research Area Type of relationship
UPecon-USAID Policy Consultant

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.