CCT beneficiaries forced to use contraceptives, anti-RH group claims

A group that opposed to artificial contraceptives protested against the Department of Health on Saturday over reports it has received of Pantawid Pamilyang Pilipino Program (4P) beneficiaries allegedly being forced to take contraceptive implants.

 

Doctors For Life alleged that beneficiaries were forced to take the implants out of fear of losing access to the program's conditional cash transfers, GMA's "24 Oras" reported Saturday.


 

"Hindi nila pinapaalam sa tao, sa mga babae. Kung bakit masama ito. Dapat sana, fair naman, fair game," Dr. Rey Echaves, DFL adviser, said.

 

However, the Department of Health said it did not have a clause which forces beneficiaries to have the implants for the CCT.

The CCT, or 4Ps program, is a government program where poor families are given cash subsidies in exchange for keeping their children in school and for bringing them to health clinics for regular checkups.

 

The DOH said they only advised beneficiaries to participate in family planning orientations and only used contraceptives approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

 

"Even the choice of going into family planning, kung natural- nasa kanila iyon. So never naging parang finorce, pinuwersa. We will not offer something that will put them in danger din," DOH spokesperson Dr. Lyndon Lee-Suy said.

 

According to the UK's National Health Services, contraceptive implants are small, thin tubes inserted in the upper arm of a woman which stops the ovary from releasing an egg by releasing progestogen into the body for three years.

 

Progestogen is a hormone which thickens the cervical mucus and thins the womb lining, making it difficult for sperm to penetrate the cervix and latch on to the uterus.

 

DFL claims that the drug increases the chances for blindness, ectopic pregnancy, and cancer, their stance remaining unchanged since their protest against contraceptive drugs in front of the FDA in October 2014. — Rie Takumi/JDS, GMA News