Group pushes for free, comprehensive healthcare

GABRIELA Women’s Partylist has urged the Health department to go beyond the distribution of birth control devices and provide free, comprehensive healthcare.

“While the health department has moved for the full implementation of the RPRH (Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health) law, we reiterate that reproductive health is not merely confined to birth control,” Gabriela Rep. Emmi de Jesus said in a statement.

Health Secretary Fransisco Duque III has pledged to fully and strictly implement the RH law after the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) declared 51 contraceptives as safe and non-abortifacient.

“We challenge DOH Secretary Duque to go beyond the family planning component of the law,” she added.

Another Gabriela Representative, Arlene Brosas, said the full implementation of RH Law does not translate to comprehensive healthcare. She noted that healthcare in the country is still privatized.

“Even if RPRH Law is in full swing, healthcare remains largely privatized or corporatized, and women still lack access to basic healthcare services in farflung areas,” she said.

“We may have access to birth control but with the lack public hospitals to cater to our less privileged sisters, RPRH Law will still be useless to them,” added Brosas.

Albay Representative Edcel Lagman earlier urged Congress to augment the budget for the family planning commodities as there will be more contraceptives to distribute for free, following the FDA’s findings.