MANILA, Philippines–The country’s family planning program is in peril after the United Nations sounded off its plan to cut back its aid to the government’s population control program.
Iloilo Rep. Janette Garin said that she was informed that the UN would abandon its $1 million birth control program in the Philippines starting next year due to lack of funding from members.
Garin said that the fund was used to bankroll the use of injectable drugs to prevent pregnancy in three months or the distribution of birth control pills especially to those who just gave birth.
The vice chair of the House committee on health said that this has made the passage of the Reproductive Health bill more urgent to ensure sustained funding for family planning programs.
Without this regular UN-funded program to poor Filipinos, Garin feared that the Philippines could experience a spike in its population growth rate recently pegged at 2.4 percent per annum.