PSA red flags dip in condom and contraceptive imports

THE importation of contraceptives, such as condoms and pills, saw a decline in January last year, according to data obtained from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA).

Data showed that in January no imported condom entered the country, while contraception pill imports contracted 27.59 percent to $2.45 million in January 2021 from $3.38 million in January 2020.

However, in terms of quantity, there was a 5.72-percent increase to 39,043 pills in January 2021 from 36,931 pills in January 2020. It can be noted that there are no local manufacturers for condoms and contraception pills in the country.

“I have checked with the major importer of condoms and pills in the country. There is a slight decrease in their importation of condoms, but an increase in importation of pills,” Undersecretary for Population Development Juan Antonio Perez III told the Businessmirror on Monday.

Perez added that given that the data was only for January 2021, it might be too early for him to say that this could affect the country’s supply of contraceptives for the rest of the year.

Last year, due to the pandemic, Perez said, limitations in terms of supply and mobility restrictions, the government encountered challenges in extending reproductive health services.

University of the Philippines Population Institute Professor Maria Paz Marquez last year said their study showed that the number of unintended pregnancies in 2020 could reach 5.17 million, representing a 2.07-million increase due to the pandemic.

This represented a 42-percent increase in the number of unintended pregnancies, or 79,000 additional unintended pregnancies, per month of quarantine. She said this was due to the community quarantine induced reduction in family planning services.

“Condoms are used both for family planning and STD/HIV [sexually transmitted disease/human immunodeficiency virus] programs so it may be hard to tell this early,” Perez said. “Will have to see the extent of lockdowns before predicting anything for next year.”

Based on PSA data, January 2021 is the first time the country did not import any condoms since 2006. In January 2020, the country imported some 86,870 condoms worth $546,969.

This represented a 37.07-percent increase from the $399,051 worth of condoms imported in January 2019. This was able to buy some 45,134 condoms.

Annually, between 2006 and 2020, the country’s condom imports grew 2.1 percent. Total imports in 2020 reached $2.43 million for 289,031 condoms.

This was a 37.26 percent decline from the $3.87 million worth of condoms imported in 2019. In that year, the country imported 341,550 condoms.

Between 2006 and 2020, the years when the country’s condom imports were the highest was in 2017 and 2018 when shipments of these commodities reached $5.34 million and $5.16 million, respectively.

Meanwhile, in terms of contraception pill imports between 2006 and 2020, the country imported the most in 2020 with imports valued at $26.69 million. This was able to buy 191,701 pills.

This represented an increase of 150.18 percent in 2020 from the $10.67 million worth contraception pills imported in 2019. This amount was able to purchase 145,153 contraceptive pills.