Adolescent and youth reproductive health in Philippines: status issues policies and programs.

This assessment of adolescent reproductive health (ARH) in the Philippines is part of a series of assessments in 13 countries in Asia and the Near East. These assessments aim to highlight the reproductive health status of adolescents in each country within the context of the lives of adolescent boys and girls and outline policies and programs pertaining to reproductive health with emphasis on information and services relevant to ARH. The report starts with the social context and socioeconomic factors affecting the adolescent population of the Philippines. It then focuses on gender socialization that sets girls and boys on separate lifetime paths in terms of life expectations educational attainment labor force participation reproduction and duties in the household. Key ARH challenges and issues are then presented. In-depth discussions on ARH are based on insights from selected Filipino national and regional key informants interviewed in August 2001. The report then provides the policy context by outlining laws and policies affecting provision of information and services to adolescents. The report identifies operational policy barriers to ARH and ends with recommendations for action to improve ARH in the Philippines. The Philippine population is one of the fastest growing in the world. Its youth population is also increasing quickly from 4 million in 1950 to more than 15 million in 2000 with a projected population of 20 million by 2020; its rapid growth is due to still high though gradually declining fertility rates coupled with improving life expectancy. One out of every five persons in the country is 15–24 years old. A profile of Filipino youth emphasizes that the Philippines is currently in the midst of a “youth bulge” a transitory but important demographic expansion occurring in the latter part of the 20th century and the earlier segment of the 21st century. It also points to the historical uniqueness of recent cohorts of Philippine youth: large numbers rapid growth and large proportion of the total population. (excerpt)