Efficient health services answer to maternal death, not RH bill – Atienza

Former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines – Former Manila Mayor Lito Atienza said that efficient health services and sufficient funds for public hospitals, not the proposed Reproductive Health Bill, are the answers to the country’s maternal health problem.

In an interview over Radyo Inquirer Tuesday, Atienza said he could not understand Health Secretary Enrique Ona’s logic in explaining that the solution to maternal deaths was the passing of the RH bill.

“Ang problema natin dagdagan natin ang pondo ng mga public medical centers and public hospitals [The problem is the lack of funds for public medical centers and public hospitals],” Atienza said in the interview.

“Sisirain lang natin ang values ng mga kabataan dyan sa  Reproductive Health Bill na yan [We wil only destroy the values of our youth with that Reproductive Health bill],” he added.

Atienza said that the country should not succumb to pressures from wealthy nations like Japan, Singapore, Europe, and America, which he said have suffered from the “destructions of sex education.”

DOH on Monday said that more Filipino mothers were dying during childbirth, citing the mortality rate for Filipino mothers increased to 221 per 100,000 live births in 2011 from 162 per 100,000 live births in 2009.