- Office of Minority Leader Edcel C. Lagman
- 0918-9120137 / 0916-6406737
- 18 September 2010
A total of P6.750 billion in five years can be sourced from the Priority Development Assistance Fund (PDAF) of Members of the House of Representatives alone to boost the country’s chances of achieving by 2015 Millennium Development Goal No. 5 on improving maternal health and reducing maternal mortality.
House Minority Leader Edcel C. Lagman proposed to earmark and utilize annually at least P5-million from the PDAF of each Member of the House of Representatives or a total of P1.350-billion yearly for related programs and activities to help achieve MDG 5 in their respective districts and constituencies.
Lagman lamented that “among all the eight MDGs, the least likely to be achieved is Goal No. 5.” He underscored that worldwide, the least progress has been in the area of reducing maternal mortality and improving maternal health.
“This mirrors the low status accorded to women in most societies because the goal that specifically protects and promotes their health and wellbeing is the one where the commitment of majority of the signatory-countries is at best, faltering and at worst, feeble and half-hearted,” Lagman said in a speech before participants to the WomenDeliver Conference.
The Albay solon emphasized that allocating funds through the PDAF for basic and emergency obstetric care and information campaign to avoid high-risk pregnancies will lower maternal mortality and morbidity.
“If we collectively adopt and implement this proposal starting 2011, we shall be able to harness P1.350 billion annually or P6.750 billion in five years in the House of Representatives alone,” Lagman said. The deadline for achieving the MDGs is 2015.
Lagman added that “the enactment of a rights-based, development-oriented and health-driven law on reproductive health that is well-funded and national in scope will help ensure that the miracle of life will not mean death for so many mothers.”
In the Philippines, 11 women die daily of causes related to pregnancy and childbirth. The country’s current maternal mortality ratio (MMR) is pegged at a high of 162 deaths for every 100,000 live births while the MDG target is an MMR of 52 by 2015.
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Lagman seeks P6.7 billion for maternal health
By Jess Diaz (The Philippine Star) Updated September 19, 2010 12:00 AM
Link: http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=613298&publicationSubCategoryId=63
Lagman urges use of lawmakers’ ‘pork’ to cut maternal deaths
Saturday, 18 September 2010 19:24
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