27 October 2017

The Philippines' Commission on Population (POPCOM) came out with new way to reach more young people in its continuing campaign to address teenage pregnancy and HIV/AIDS. A total of 200 junior high school students from the cities of Surigao, Cabadbaran, Butuan and the province of Agusan del Norte joined the Adolescent Health and Development (AHD) Film Dissemination conducted in said areas, respectively. The selected short films were national winners of the 2016 AHD Film Festival and can also be shown to policy makers, civil society organizations, and community members, aside from schools and tertiary school institutions.

Students had deepened their understanding on adolescent health and development issues as they actively involved themselves during the facilitated screening, which was followed by a discussion. The process helped the audience to watch, reflect, engage with the bigger picture, and ultimately, take action.

Director Alexander A. Makinano of POPCOM Caraga, echoed that the Responsible Parenthood and Reproductive Health (RPRH) Law is mandated to provide age and development-appropriate reproductive health education to young people in the country. Makinano said that the rise of teenage pregnancy has been one of the biggest challenges of the country, in conjunction with HIV/AIDS, early marriage and maternal deaths, and it has also demographic implications to the growing population.

Read the full article online here.