MANILA — The country's contraceptive prevalence rate has significantly increased 10 years since the reproductive health law was passed, the Department of Health said Tuesday.

According to DOH officer-in-charge Maria Rosario Vergeire, the CPR or the proportion of married women aged 15-49 reporting current use of contraceptives has risen to nearly 50 percent.

"Since na-enact ang 2012 na law, tumaas nang husto 'yung contraceptive prevalence rate natin by as much as almost 50 percent, na dati nung 2012 it was just around 20 plus percent," she said in a press briefing.

(Since the law was enacted in 2012, contraceptive prevalence rate increased by as much as almost 50 percent, when it was just around 20 plus percent in 2012.)

Based on the 2022 national demographic and health survey, the pill remains as the most preferred contraceptive method in the country, Vergeire said.

There is also an increased use of implants, IUD, vasectomy and bilateral tubal ligation among Filipinos, she added.

As the country marks the 10th anniversary of the RH law, the DOH vowed better reproductive healthcare services.

Vergeire noted there are still challenges in implementing the programs especially in local communities.

"Hind natin pababayaan ang mga lugar at ang mga kababayan natin na nandun sa mga area na talagang hindi kaya ng local government to provide these commodities [for family planning] for them," the health official said.

(We will not neglect areas where our local government cannot provide these commodities for them.)

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Courtesy of DOH

In November, the Commission on Population and Development urged Filipino men to "take on a more active role in planning for their children and families".

Citing DOH data, Popcom said about 400,000 Filipino men currently use condoms, up from 270,000 in 2016.

Meanwhile, male sterilization through non-scalpel vasectomy remains largely unpopular, as there were only about 15,000 who underwent the procedure in 2020, or less than 1 percent of all family planning users at 8.1 million, the agency said.

This was even lower than in 2016 at about 16,000 out of 6.1 million family planning users then.

Popcom said that more proactive male participation in family planning, as well as responsible parenthood and reproductive health, could positively overturn the occurrence and effects of the disturbing increase in maternal deaths, particularly by preventing unplanned pregnancies.

It will also ensure that their pregnant partners will receive appropriate maternal, newborn and child healthcare services, the agency added.

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