RP unlikely to meet goals on birth, health care, education

from The Sun Star

MANILA -- The National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) has reported that the Philippines still lags behind the Millennium Development Goals (MDG) on maternal mortality, access to reproductive health care and access to primary education.

A Neda official said the country has surpassed 80 percent of the MDG targets, which are incorporated in the economic reform program under the updated Medium-Term Philippine Development Plan (MTPDP).

Under the Philippine MDG goals, maternal mortality ratio must be lowered to 52 deaths per 100,000 live births by 2015. The country's progress has slowed down from 209 deaths in 1993 to 162 deaths in 2006.

The UN Development Program (UNDP), in its report on the MDG progress last October, said it is "unlikely" that the Philippines would meet its target on maternal mortality.

The UNDP report also said it is "difficult" for the Philippines to achieve its target of 80 percent access to reproductive health care by 2015 for married women aged 15-49 years old after the country's pace showed only a "modest rate" of improvement from 49 percent in 2001 to 50.6 percent in 2006.

The same report said access to primary education worsened in 2005 to 2006 following a decline in the net enrollment rate from 96.8 percent in 2000 to 84.4 percent in school year 2005 to 2006.

President Gloria Macapagal-Arroyo ordered the Cabinet to keep the funding for the realization of the MDGs intact.

Arroyo ordered the inclusion of obstetrics and gynecology services in all hospitals especially for the poor and the inclusion of child birth in the coverage of health insurance.

She said government would use its increased revenue collection to upgrade local government hospitals from primary to secondary because the latter have facilities for childbirth and caesarian delivery.

The President hoped that the presence of better-equipped local hospitals would encourage more mothers to give birth there and eventually reduce maternal deaths due to childbirth.

Arroyo also lauded the education department for the successful implementation of the Food-for-School Program which entices children to finish grade school.

The MDG was signed by 186 United Nation (UN) member states in 2000 as part of their commitment in improving the lives of the poor.

The eight goals of MDG include:

1) Eradicating by half extreme poverty and hunger between 1990 and 2015 or the proportion of people whose income is less than US$1 dollar a day, achieve full and productive employment and decent work for all, including women and young people; and halving the proportion of people who suffer from hunger between 1990 and 2015.

2) Achieve universal primary education by ensuring that, by 2015, children everywhere, boys and girls alike, would be able to complete a full course of primary school.

3) Promote gender equality and empowerment of women by eliminating gender disparity in primary and secondary education preferably by 2005, and at all levels by 2015.

4) Reduce child mortality by two-thirds, between 1990 and 2015, the under-five mortality rate.

5) Improve maternal health by reducing by three quarters, between 1990 and 2015, the maternal mortality ratio.

6) Reduce the incidence of human immunodeficiency virus-Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (HIV/Aids), malaria, and other diseases.

7) Ensure environmental sustainability. 8) Develop a global partnership for development.