Family planning mobile clinic to offer free services across Luzon

Health advocates on Wednesday welcomed the family planning ambulatory clinic that will be traveling in provinces across Luzon, providing free modern types of contraceptives to Filipinos who wish to space or limit pregnancy. 

Non-profit organization DKT Philippines Foundation launched the Service Outreach and Distribution Extension Program (SODEX) in Binangonan, Rizal, aiming to give couples and parents in far-flung areas safe and accessible modern family planning methods. 

Among the family planning commodities that the mobile clinic offers for free are pills, condoms, injectables, and intrauterine devices (IUD). Bilateral tubal ligation using local anesthesia, and even non-scalpel vasectomy are also available at no cost. 

Health Undersecretary Glenn Baggao said that the mobile facility will help the Department of Health (DOH) better implement its family planning program and achieve its 8-point agenda. 

“This will give access to people who cannot go to facilities for family planning procedures. The DOH also purchases our own family planning supplies for short-term, long-term, and permanent methods. But I saw the clinic, it’s well-equipped and it will really help people who desire to go for family planning,” he said in an ambush interview. 

Baggao said that programs such as SODEX will also help prevent sexual infections from spreading and maternal and child mortality in the Philippines from increasing. 

The Health official also expressed hope that the services of the free family planning mobile clinic will be expanded nationwide. 

"I hope they can be able to expand this to other local government units across the country para mas makakatulong sila sa (so they can help the) Department of Health in terms of the implementation of this program," Baggao added.

This year, the mobile clinic is only set to travel across Central Luzon, Northern Luzon, Cordillera Administrative Region, Mimaropa, and Calabarzon for a total of 119 days. It, however, aims to cover areas in the Visayas and Mindanao by next year. 

Boarding the ambulatory clinic are doctors who are trained to perform the procedures. They will be assisted by a trained nurse, midwife, circulating staff, plus the driver. 

Individuals who are interested in getting the services need to undergo counseling and final screening first to ensure that they are well-informed and fit to get the contraceptive of their choice. 

The first stop was in Binangonan, being an area where the demand for family planning services is high. The clinic bus is set to go next to communities in San Pablo and San Pedro in Laguna.

Data by the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) in January revealed that a total of 1,455,393 live births were recorded in the Philippines in 2022 or an average of three babies born in the country per minute, reflecting an acceleration after the slowdown during the pandemic. 

Among regions, the highest number of birth occurrences was in Calabarzon at 14.1%, Central Luzon at 11.7%, Central Visayas at 8.2%, the Bicol Region at 6.7%, and Western Visayas at 6.2%.—AOL, GMA Integrated News