68% of medical doctors in a recent poll said that the Philippine
Food and Drug Administration should consider reversing the 20-year-old ban on
emergency contraceptive (EC) pills, according to new research.
DKT Philippines Foundation conducted the online survey to collect insights of
doctors active in family planning, as health experts fret that the country’s rate
of adolescent pregnancy is bouncing back to high levels after COVID lockdowns
caused them to decline temporarily.
In a parallel study of young, unmarried Filipinas, 73% of the respondents said
they would be interested in using the so-called ‘morning-after pill’ as
contraception if it became available. A leading global research agency
conducted the latter study, interviewing 500 respondents across the country.
Last June, President Rodrigo Duterte issued an
Executive Order declaring prevention of teenage pregnancies a “national
priority,” calling on all government departments to identify measures to combat
the problem, which affected as many as 6% of Filipinas under 18 prior to the
pandemic.
“The EC pill is a readily available solution that’s
safe, effective, and widely used worldwide,” said Foundation Chairman, Hyam
Bolande. “Usage studies overseas have shown that young women and girls, in particular,
favor this contraceptive method,” he continued, adding that the product has a
37-year record of safety and is sold in 147 countries including the
Philippines’ neighbors.
The rate of teen pregnancy in the Philippines had persistently been among the
highest in ASEAN leading up to 2019, with Filipina girls having 495 births per day on average. According to the latest available data from the
Commission on Population and Development, COVID lockdowns caused the figure to
dip by 13% in the following year, but public-health experts warned that that
effect will not last.
“It’s already coming back because the root causes of the problem were never
addressed,” said Dr. Mario Festin, a family planning specialist from the
University of the Philippines College of Medicine. “We just had a respite in
2020 because the quarantines kept teenagers at home.”
An EC pill, Postinor, had
previously been approved for importation and sale in the Philippines until the
Bureau of Food and Drugs declared the pill an “abortifacient” in 2001, resulting
to revoking the registration and effectively banning the category.
In the 20 years since, however, a consensus of the scientific
community and the World Health Organization has rejected any linkage of EC
pills to abortion. Published WHO guidelines flatly state that the drug cannot
end a pregnancy but can only prevent one by stopping or delaying the release of
eggs from a woman’s ovaries.
“Our findings show that the Philippines’ own physicians
agree by more than a two-thirds majority, particularly those active in
reproductive health care,” said DKT’s Mr. Bolande. In DKT’s online survey, only
3% of doctors said they believed EC pills to be a form of abortion and cited this
as a reason not to prescribe them.
In total, 68% said FDA should reconsider its position, while just 10% were opposed,
and 22% said they were undecided.
The accompanying scientific survey of unmarried Filipinas aged 18-29 who are
sexually active suggested that legal EC would be affordable to women of that
age group. When asked how much they would be willing to pay for one dose, respondents
gave an average cost of 85 pesos. According to DKT International, EC pills sell
in drugstores for less than the said amount in Vietnam, Thailand, Cambodia,
and Myanmar. In Indonesia, the average price is roughly 2 US dollars.
Depending on the type, EC pills can prevent pregnancy for up to 72-120 hours
after unprotected intercourse. The closer the EC pills are taken to the time of
intercourse, the greater the chance of preventing pregnancy.
People confuse EC with abortion because the pills are used
after intercourse. Of the 500 women surveyed, a 54% majority cited the false belief
that the start of pregnancy (conception) happens during or immediately after
unprotected intercourse. Only 36% correctly answered that conception in humans usually
occurs 5-10 days after sex, giving an EC dose enough time to prevent pregnancy.
At the start of the survey, only 1 in 4 of the
respondents was aware that it is possible to prevent pregnancy by taking
contraceptive pills after unprotected intercourse.
Although FDA bars pills dedicated to EC, doctors may,
under Philippine Department of Health guidelines, prescribe the Yuzpe Method—two
enlarged doses of daily combined oral contraceptive pills—to prevent pregnancy
after unprotected sex.
However, the WHO recommends purpose-made EC pills,
because Yuzpe Method causes more severe side effects including nausea and
vomiting. EC pills are also more effective at preventing pregnancy than Yuzpe
Method, according to an analysis of published research by Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews.
Of the unmarried Filipinas surveyed, some 68% said
they had engaged in unprotected sex before, and the same proportion said they
had experienced “pregnancy scares” in the past.
About DKT Philippines Foundation:
DKT Philippines Foundation has been working to promote family planning since
1991. The Foundation provides training on modern contraceptive technology to
medical professionals and education to the public on sexual and reproductive
health, through lectures, social media, and the DoItRight.ph website. It also
provides family-planning outreach to underserved rural and semi-rural
communities. The Foundation is affiliated with DKT International, a Washington,
DC-based non-profit organization that is active in close to 100 developing
countries worldwide.
For more information, kindly contact:
Mark Anthony Pineda |
Media Relations | Centaur Marketing
markanthony@centuarmarketing.co
| pr@centaurmarketing.co
No comments:
Post a Comment