By JOSEPH HOLANDES UBALDE
Interaksyon.com
TAGAYTAY CITY — Despite provisions in the controversial reproductive health bill that will educate teens about safe sex and responsible parenting, a Health official said the measure is no panacea against two of the country’s ills.
Department of Health assistant secretary Dr. Eric Tayag said proponents of the RH bill should not be seen as the ultimate solution to HIV (human immunodeficiency virus) and poverty.
“The RH bill is purported to be a lot of things but to say that it will eradicate both problems is not being factual,” Tayag said during the two-day seminar on reducing stigma and discrimination against HIV and AIDS (acquired immunodeficiency syndrome).
Tayag said the best way is still to convince sectors who are at risk to have themselves tested and to teach them how to avoid the disease. Since 2010, four to five new HIV cases are being reported daily. The DOH projects that the HIV prevalence rate in the country could shoot up to 45,000 in 2015 from a mere 11,000 in 2008.
No poverty solver
According to Tayag, the RH bill, which is deemed by some as a cure-all bill, merely consolidates various policies by local government units in the country regarding family planning.
“The bill puts everyone on the same boat,” Tayag said, adding that the absence of the bill will subject the reproductive health policy to the individual whims of local chief executives.
In February, Ayala Alabang village in Muntinlupa City banned the sale of condoms in their area without a doctor’s prescription. This was met with widespread criticism, including protests from well-known artists like Lea Salonga, a pro-RH bill advocate.
Supporters of the RH bill are also saying that by curbing population growth, the country’s dwindling resources will be able to provide for all Filipinos and thus reducing widespread poverty.
“It’s not realistic to say that it will address our problem with poverty,” Tayag added.
Tayag said the RH bill, if passed along with other measures, could ultimately eradicate poverty in the country.
“But alone, it cannot eradicate the problem,” he said.
Dr. Ofelio Monzon, founding president of the AIDS Society of the Philippines, said the RH bill might be a good complementary law to the RA 8504 or the AIDS law of 1998.
“Part of the bill that refers to the prevention of acquiring sexually transmitted infections is a good complement to the existing law on AIDS,” Monzon said.
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