A step backward for women, HR activist says of DOH budget cut

A “VICTORY for the Catholic Church” but a “step backward for women.”

This was how the international Human Rights Watch (HRW) described the P1-billion cut in the budget for reproductive health services this year.

Phelim Kine, deputy Asia director of the United Kingdom-based rights group, said the reduction in the 2016 budget for modern contraceptive services would deprive women of adequate state protections.

“The Philippine government has taken a serious step backward in its obligation to protect maternal health, reduce infant mortality and prevent the spread of HIV,” Kine said in a statement.

“Congress’ slashing of the budget for contraception is a victory for elements in the Roman Catholic Church in the Philippines that have bitterly opposed the free contraceptive services,” he said.

Church opposition to the Reproductive Health Law, according to Kine, has “included false claims about the safety and reliability of contraceptive methods such as condoms.”

The P1-billion allocation for contraceptives was removed from the budget of the Department of Health (DOH) when the Senate and the House of Representatives were reconciling their respective versions in the bicameral conference committee.

The Senate reportedly pushed for the realignment of the DOH allocation for its family health and responsible parenting program to the purchase of air assets for the military and to increase the budgets of state colleges and universities.

HRW said the decision of Congress effectively cut vital support for lower-income Filipinos who relied on state-provided contraceptive services for protection from sexually transmitted infections, and for safe birth-spacing and family planning.

Studies show that up to 50 percent of pregnancies in the Philippines are unintended, largely due to lack of availability of modern contraceptive services, according to the group.

“The budget cut threatens to roll back hard-fought gains in maternal health and reductions in infant mortality over the past decade made possible by government-subsidized or free contraceptive services,” Kine said.

It also risks exacerbating the country’s HIV crisis, the HRW officer said, noting that the Philippines was “one of only a handful of countries at risk of a full-blown AIDS epidemic,” citing an assessment of the UN Agency for International Development.