Women's Health in the Philippines

I have a personal interest in women's and children's health in impoverished areas prone to natural disasters such as in Haiti and the Philippines. Since we are about to spend the week discussing women's health, I thought now would be an appropriate time to share some recent news pieces I've seen regarding maternal health in the aftermath of Typhoon Bopha in the Philippines. Bopha struck the Philippines in early December, and has been one of the worst storms the country has ever seen. 

People in the Philippines, unfortunately, are used to devastating typhoons. The country sees an average of 20 storms annually. Maternal and infant health in the Philippines is already not that great, weather aside, and they are way off target when it comes to meeting the 2015 Millennium Development Goals in child and maternal health. In some areas, mortality rates and wealth inequalities have gotten worse since the MDGs were established, not better. Here is a news article ("Despite Growth, Inequity Worsens", Manila Standard Today, January 27, 2013) about growing inequities and widening income extremes seen in the Philippines, and another from 2009 regarding stagnant maternal mortality rates and the country's likelihood of reaching MDG goals.

When a crisis such as Bopha occurs, the vulnerable populations of pregnant women and infants suffer immensely. The village health facilities and medical supplies wash away with the floods, people are crowded into evacuation centers after losing their homes, there is no drinking water, and malnutrition and disease abounds. It's not clear for those needing help where they can go to receive services. As this article about Typhoon Bopha's impact on maternal health from January 18 points out, it's not just that a storm like this causes an interruption in medical services; the entire health care system gets wiped out.

But amidst all the negative news, there is evidence of progress and reason for optimism for working on the MDGs having to do with maternal and child mortality. UNICEF has been working for a long time now in the Philippines for the promotion of exclusive breastfeeding, as powdered formula companies rake in the sales here using unethical marketing techniques. This is a documentary from UNICEF about all the breast milk/formula company issues in the Philippines, and I highly recommend watching it when you have a spare half-hour. As discussed in this UNICEF article covering a similar typhoon from 2012, breastfeeding is truly one of the easiest ways to combat infant mortality in emergency conditions. Breastfed babies are not exposed to contaminated drinking water, they are able to get a consistent amount of calories, and their immune systems get powerful boosts with the tailor-made antibodies their mother's milk provides. 

Also in good news for Filipino pregnant women, just the other day it was announced that the Department of Health in the Philippines will be now be able to provide training specific to maternal health for about 2000 additional health care workers, including training more midwives. This is in direct response to the lagging maternal mortality rates, and specifically addresses one of the major "three delays" that contribute to a mother's death. I was so pleased to see this because hopefully it means also that in crisis time there will be more people available to help and administer medical care to moms and babies where it is needed.

Thank you for taking the time to read my post, and I look forward to this next week of class topics in women's health!