The status of training in family planning in the Philippines.

Family planning has had a slow start in the Philippines because the national government did not adopt a policy until late in 1969 when it created the Commission on the Population of the Philippines. The initiative therefore was left to the private sector to whom credit is due for whatever progress has been made. A pioneer in the training of personnel in family planning was the Institute of Maternal and Child Health (IMCH) which in 1967 began a training program under 1 of its 3 service units the National Training Center. The IMCH received financial support from the US Agency for International Development which is funding a 5 year expanded program ending in 1973. The IMCH was followed by 2 other agencies in training personnel 1 a private agency (Family Planning Organization of the Philippines) and the other a government agency (Institute of Public Health of the University of the Philippines). It was the IMCH and later the FPOP and the UPIPH to which government and private organizations engaged in family planning work sent their 1st trainers who in turn were to train field personnel from their respective agencies. Among the government agencies which took advantage of the training courses offered by the IMCH FPOP and the UPIPH were the Dept. of Health the Dept. of Social Welfare and the Presidential Arm for Community Development. These agencies have now begun their own programs for training their field personnel with the encouragement of the Commission on Population the central body authorized by law to coordinate the work of all agencies involved in family planning. This has resulted in a proliferation of courses for different categories of trainers and trainees with each concerned whether government or private undertaking the training of personnel independently of other agencies so that there is little waste of time energy and limited resources available. This study has also revealed 1 weakness of the existing training programs in family planning; none has an adequate communication component so that the training staffs are unable to make an accurate evaluation of the effectiveness of their training programs. This deficiency must be met if family planning is to succeed. In conclusion there is 1 question that most concerns the top echelons in the national family planning program. Funding has been a hindrance in program development. For example the IMCH has been able to develop a good training program only because of the accelerated funding by USAID. When this USAID-assisted program is phased out the government will have to step in. If it does not the national family planning program will receive a serious setback. This is the challenge that faces the Commission on Population of the Philippines. (authors modified)