Campaign to curb youth pregnancies, push contraceptives gets boost with LGU support
San Jose City Mayor Mario “Kokoy” Salvador (left) and TCI Executive Director Kojo Lokko. PHOTO FROM TCI PHILIPPINES
The campaign “The Challenge Initiative Philippines” (TCI) is helping cities plan well for the youth and provide them safe spaces.
Under TCI, 24 Philippine cities started implementing family planning and youth reproductive health programs from Nov. 6 to 9.
Dr. Kojo Lokko, TCI executive director, was in the country recently to interact with campaign participants and acquire knowledge from how it is being implemented in the cities.
During his six-day stay in the Philippines, Lokko visited the cities of San Jose, Nueva Ecija province and Naga, Camarines Sur for a workshop by the Manila Health Department and meet with members of the Pasig Leadership Team.
“Good numbers are coming to my table; but seeing it in person is totally different and a much better way to say that ‘Oh! This is how things are done in San Jose City,” he said during his stop at San Jose City.
Loko also acknowledged the progress of the program co-managed by the Zuellig Family Foundation (ZFF) in the Philippines.
TCI Philippines and city personnel briefed Lokko on how the campaign is being carried out especially in urban settings.
San Jose City is one of TCI Philippines’ success stories. It has hit a youth birth rate of 33 per 1,000 girls and contraceptive use rate of 33 percent, surpassing targets set by the Department of Health. This was largely attributed to the city’s growing number of youth-friendly health facilities.
“Without TCI, we could have been beset by a larger problem attributed to uncontrolled teenage pregnancy,” said San Jose City Mayor Mario Salvador.
“We thank you for helping us manage our family planning and teenage pregnancy problem here in San Jose City,” Salvador said, according to a statement by TCI.
In Naga City, Lokko and the TCI Philippine team saw teen hubs emerging as safe spaces in public schools, part of the implementation of an ordinance. The safe space hubs offer students access to health advice, rest and dialogue with peer educators.
Lokko, recalling what he learned in Naga, said there was a need for mechanisms to reach out to the youth, including boys.
“Push for scaling up. We must build the boat as we sail,” he said.
In Pasig City, the TCI team and city health officials discussed communication gaps and lack of sync among agencies involved in reproductive health, especially for the young.
Glenn Benablo, TCI Philippines hub chief of party, listed possible solutions to the lack of synchronicity in reproductive health enforcement in Pasig.
“Maybe we can learn from the best practices of other cities,” said Benablo.
“We can explore implementation of electronic medical and health information systems and community-based teen centers,” he said.
There was a consensus, though, that tackling youth pregnancy required a multi-sectoral approach.
In Manila, Lokko commended officials for embracing digitalization as a tool in addressing youth pregnancies, saying other cities can learn from Manila’s experience.
“What you are doing here is giving us the opportunity to visualize family planning data in real-time. Without data, we can’t do our high-impact interventions effectively,” he said.
TCI and Zuellig Family Foundation are entering their fourth year of shared work in the Philippines next year. The TCI Philippine team is now preparing to conclude the program in the cities of Cagayan de Oro and Dipolog.
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