TACLOBAN CITY – The Commission of Population (POPCOM) continues to address the increasing number of adolescents getting pregnant in Eastern Visayas, says POPCOM regional director Elnora Pulma.
She said that through Family Planning Caravans under the Philippine Population Management Program, they are not only able to bring information and family planning services to couples with unmet family planning needs, but also to adolescents for fertility and HIV-AIDS awareness.
“We bring family planning services and information closer to the municipalities, because some children as young as 9 years old are not aware of their fertility that as soon as they menstruate they are already capable of getting pregnant,” she explained.
She added that based on the records of the Department of Health (DoH), 6.9 percent of adolescents in the region experience pregnancy as young as 10 years old, leading them to pass a resolution in the Regional Development Council (RDC) for all state universities and other research institutions to conduct studies on teenage pregnancy in order to find out if there are products of incest or any other factors. (Marie Tonette Grace Marticio)
