‘Trimmed RH law still a boon to moms, kids’

Health Secretary Enrique Ona: Still a boon. FILE PHOTO

MANILA, Philippines—The Department of Health (DOH) is optimistic the reproductive health (RH) law will still be able to help the government meet its commitment to the Millennium Development Goal (MDG) of reducing maternal and infant mortality despite some of its provisions being nullified by the Supreme Court.

In a recent speech, Health Secretary Enrique Ona said the health agency was finalizing the implementing rules and regulations of Republic Act No. 10354 to have them adapt to the ruling of the high court.

Ona said the decision of the Supreme Court to strike down some provisions of the controversial measure did not weaken it in terms of the government’s commitment to reduce maternal and infant mortality in the country.

“We are quite confident the portions of the RH law and its implementing rules not found to be unconstitutional by the SC would provide the necessary health policies and directives that would readily synergize with the critical areas,” said Ona at the Stakeholders Forum on Enhancing Capacities to Save Mothers and Children last week.

DOH records showed the mortality rate for Filipino mothers at 221 per 100,000 live births in 2011, while infant mortality was at 22 per 1,000 live births.

The MDG on maternal mortality seeks to curb maternal deaths to 52 per 100,000 live births and infant deaths to 19 per 1,000 live births.

In his speech, Ona said the DOH was looking forward to providing drugs and devices for reproductive, maternal, newborn and child health care to all government health facilities, midwives and nurses allowed to administer them.

The health secretary said the drugs and devices would also be given to mothers so they could practice spacing their pregnancies to their desired family size.

The implementation of the RH law is the Philippine government’s assurance of its commitment made in June 2012 to ramp up mother and child survival when it signed the Child Survival Call to Action with 175 other countries, Ona said.

“We want this commitment to be echoed by local government units to make their health systems ready to protect Filipino mothers and children from succumbing to preventable causes of death and to achieve a better quality of life,” he added.