Puerto Princesa City, Palawan, PHILIPPINES―In an effort to help address the reproductive health disparities and vulnerabilities that women and young people face during the COVID-19 pandemic, Roots of Health (ROH), in partnership with WomenStrong International, is launching its Learning Product, “Communities, Contraceptives and COVID-19: Ensuring Continued Access to Reproductive Health Services in the New Normal” on Friday, July 9, 2021.

The Learning Product was ROH’s brainchild after providing over 18,000 women and girls with access to contraception in 2020, almost 9% more than the previous year, a significant and stunning feat despite the pandemic restrictions.

In the country, over 196,000 Filipino girls between the ages of 15 and 19 give birth every year. The pandemic has made the situation even worse with fewer services, resulting in the continued increase in teen pregnancy, maternal deaths, and HIV cases. These had been at the center of ROH’s initiatives to encourage more health-seeking behavior among women and young people.

Recognizing the challenges in providing services even before the COVID-19 pandemic, the Learning Product can offer reproductive health care providers and stakeholders insights on continued access to reproductive health care during a pandemic and other similar public health system disruptions. The guide features an anthology of best practices derived from experiences on the ground working with women and young people. 

With its ultimate goal to improve access to RH services for women and youth outside Palawan, health care providers and civil service organizations are enjoined to adopt ROH’s best practices in providing community-based RH services during COVID-19; and making health facilities more youth-friendly, through ROH’s Youth-Friendly Clinics Assessment Tool.

As women and young people struggle with access to reproductive health education and services, a situation amplified by the pandemic, ROH hopes to curb teen pregnancy, maternal mortality, and HIV, by increasing awareness on unmet need for reproductive health services amid COVID-19 and its consequent sexual health vulnerabilities.

“Communities, Contraceptives and COVID-19: Ensuring Continued Access to Reproductive Health Services in the New Normal” is written by Amina Evangelista Swanepoel (ROH Executive Director) and Amie Perez (ROH Media Director), with illustrations by Aaron Bonete and layout by Gloria Lim.

Download the PDF version here.

The post Roots of Health Launches Guide on Providing Continued Reproductive Health Services During COVID-19 appeared first on Roots Of Health.

In celebration of International Day for Disaster Reduction, Roots of Health takes a stand for reproductive health services. Birth control, prenatal care, and HIV testing and treatment remain essential as we build disaster-resilient communities, and especially more so in immediate disaster response.

Disasters increase sexual health risks that women and young people have already been struggling with under normal circumstances.

 

To minimize the effects of a disaster, whether its a pandemic, an earthquake or a typhoon, vulnerable groups should continue to have access to essential health care services–including birth control, maternal health care, and HIV testing and treatment.

Here’s to a meaningful International Day for Disaster Reduction!

The post Reproductive Health in Disasters appeared first on Roots Of Health.

Had things gone according to plan, I would’ve spent each day of last summer braving the early morning traffic and the evening rush hour. In between those, I would be fulfilling my tasks assigned for each day and possibly meeting new people, from fellow interns to employees and managers.

But unfortunately, we all had to endure the consequences of the pandemic —evidently, some more than others. And were all left with no other choice but to cope by adopting different means of maintaining connections and ensuring productivity.

Due to the lockdown and the required physical distancing, every Filipino’s regular programming was interrupted, and consequently, so were my expectations of how my internship program would go.

In all honesty, I initially assumed that a fully online internship would not provide the complete learning and working experience. I felt some apprehensions about it, like how intimidating it was to be introduced to new people but never actually meeting them in person, or how the boundary between personal life and work could easily be blurred with the remote set-up. 

Fortunately, once I started my internship with Ugat ng Kalusugan, I realized that I did not have to worry about these things after all, since the directors and supervisor that I got to know were extremely understanding and approachable. I also felt that they exhibited a certain level of trust in me, especially when it came to my deliverables, which in turn allowed me to be more comfortable with the working environment.

As for the learning experience, I can confidently say that I have gained a lot of insights from my few weeks of working in the organization. All of these realizations affirmed a fundamental truth: that health and healthcare are multidimensional. 

Particularly, in this case, I learned that there’s more to reproductive health than just knowing about the various concepts surrounding it, or establishing a facility to improve service delivery. It is also about ensuring the reliability of information and the quality of interventions that are made available to the public. 

It is making resources accessible enough for most, if not all, clients who are in need. 

It is forming healthcare workers that are well-trained and fully prepared for every procedure.

It is providing a safe space –both in the literal and figurative sense- that would enable people to receive the necessary services without having to fear judgement. 

And most of all, it is about making sure that no one gets left behind or excluded in the process.

I cannot exactly say that I wouldn’t have changed a thing about my experience. The truth is, the pandemic still continues to loom over our heads. But looking back on the past couple of weeks, I can genuinely admit that despite the unexpected circumstances, my internship at Ugat ng Kalusugan was, to say the least, a wonderful opportunity to grow as a person and to serve for my advocacy.

The post My Summer Internship in the “New Normal” appeared first on Roots Of Health.

In places like Palawan, Philippines, where almost everyone knows everyone, young people often fear getting a pregnancy test, an HIV test, or contraceptives.

To them, accessing services could mean other people finding out that they are having sex. This can be very embarrassing, especially in a culture that considers sex as taboo.

But this doesn’t mean young Filipinos aren’t having sex. It only makes them more likely to hide and have sex without any safety precautions. That’s why we see more teen pregnancies and HIV infections.

Now, young people are in even more danger of these health risks due to COVID-19.

People below the age of 21 still have to stay home and not go out. This means they are even more unable to access the services they need.

Roots of Health strives to change that. Here, our young clients can rely on our services. Young people can get free, confidential, and youth-friendly clinical services. They are welcome in our clinics if they are able to travel. Or they can ask us to visit them at home or in their neighborhood.

Either way, they can get contraceptives, pregnancy tests, or community-based HIV screening from a health care provider who won’t tell a soul about it and won’t give them nasty looks for being young and sexually active.

The post RH Still Matters: Young People More Vulnerable During COVID-19 appeared first on Roots Of Health.

HIV did not disappear because of COVID-19.

In fact, it could get even worse. We’re seeing more positive cases in our clinics since lockdown restrictions have eased up and more people can go out to get tested.

Still, many people find it hard to access testing and treatment for HIV. Restrictions to movement of people and supplies are still in place. This could lead to a new wave of HIV infections in the Philippines, experts warn.

Here in Palawan, anyone can get free, confidential HIV screening at our clinics. If they test positive, we link them to a health facility for treatment and care.

Those outside the city can also get HIV screening through community-based HIV screeners.

Before COVID-19, Roots of Health trained motivators all over Palawan. That way, people in their communities can access HIV screening without having to travel to a clinic.

With early detection and regular treatment, people living with HIV can live longer, healthier lives. Treatment also helps bring viral loads to undetectable levels. At that point, a person living with HIV will no longer transmit the virus sexually.

When more people can easily access HIV screening and treatment, we can save more lives and stop the virus from spreading.

Support Roots of Health’s HIV prevention programs.

The post Despite COVID-19, Let’s Not Forget About HIV appeared first on Roots Of Health.

From the moment each of our clients show up at our door until they leave, we apply best practices to prevent COVID-19 from spreading. Each client needs to schedule an appointment in advance, in order to avoid long queues and crowding.

At your service! Nurses Jayson and Piety, together with Clinical Assistant Geralden are excited to be back in our reproductive health clinic to provide more women with free birth control options such as pills, subdermal implants, injectables, and condoms.

As soon as a client approaches the door, we check her temperature and request her to disinfect her shoes.

Physical distancing is easier as clients and staff have minimal physical contact with new plastic barriers installed, and client gets to sit on a newly disinfected chair in every step of the consultation.

During a health crisis, an unplanned pregnancy poses much greater danger to the health, safety and survival of women and girls. That’s why we can’t afford to compromise access to birth control.

We’re still providing mobile clinical services to women and girls who still can’t leave their homes. But with our clinic doors now open, we can help more women and girls choose to postpone pregnancy until they are ready, while also doing our part to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Help more women and girls in the Philippines stay healthy.

The post Our RH Clinic is Back in Action appeared first on Roots Of Health.

Like Joy, many Filipina women and girls have to hide the fact that they use contraceptives. Their partners won’t allow it. A lot of men believe that birth control will make their wives and girlfriends “promiscuous.”

Also, many parents don’t know (or are in denial) that their young daughters are sexually active. And if they found out, it would be a “disgrace.”

COVID-19 has only made matters worse, as women and girls find it hard to leave their homes to access birth control. If they were vulnerable to health risks, gender-based violence, and discrimination before, they are even more vulnerable now.

Lack of access to birth control will lead to more unplanned pregnancies. This can derail the lives of many women and girls, who are already struggling to keep their physical and emotional well-being intact, while also struggling to make ends meet financially.

Despite the pandemic, and even more so because of it, reproductive health should remain a priority. Otherwise, more women and girls will suffer.

Now, anyone who needs birth control in Puerto Princesa City may contact Roots of Health. They can reach us through our mobile hotline or Facebook page, and our clinical staff can deliver reproductive health services straight to their homes and communities.

Roots  of Health nurse Mai helps deliver birth control pills and injectables to different communities all over Puerto Princesa City, Palawan.

Our nurses and midwives also take the time to explain how to use contraceptives properly, so that they can work most efficiently. Our service providers can ensure utmost privacy and confidentiality—stigma and judgment not included.

Inside our clinics or on the road, each Roots of Health client gets proper counselling how to use birth control correctly.

Women and girls deserve to stay safe, not only from the virus, but also from the risks of unplanned pregnancies. They have the right to decide on matters that will affect their health and bodies. They should continue to access to reproductive health services while staying at home to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Give a woman the gift of freedom and control. Support Roots of Health’s community-based reproductive health services.

*not her real name

The post Free Reproductive Health Services—On Wheels! appeared first on Roots Of Health.

Wrong information about birth control, family planning and sexual and reproductive health is all too common in the Philippines. With COVID-19 lockdown restrictions, more women and girls cannot get advice from a health care provider in person. Instead, they turn to social media.

That’s why our nurses and midwives have been hosting live Q&A sessions on our local Facebook page. Over 80,000 Filipinas follow us to ask their most burning questions.

So far, our clinical staff have answered thousands of questions through comments, messages and live sessions. From this, we learned that they actually want to use modern birth control. But they are either scared of side effects or don’t know how to use them properly.

Also, most online sources on birth control are in English. The language barrier makes information even more difficult to access and understand.

Lack of information can lead to serious problems. For instance, using birth control incorrectly is just as dangerous as not using them at all. User error is the number one cause of contraceptive failure. We can change this.

As more women and girls take charge of their health through a safe, non-judgmental online space, they can prevent unplanned pregnancies more easily. They can choose what form of birth control works best for them. They also avoid contraceptive failure due to user errors.

Plus, they can learn all of these from a licensed health care provider who speaks their language.

Knowledge empowers. This matters even more so during a health crisis, when misinformation is too costly.

Spread the word. For accurate, non-judgmental advice on sexual and reproductive health, follow Ugat ng Kalusugan RH Clinic on Facebook.

The post Sexual Health Education for Filipinas Goes Online appeared first on Roots Of Health.

An unplanned pregnancy disrupts a woman’s life in so many ways—even more so during a pandemic of this magnitude. With little to no opportunities to work, families find it harder to put food on the table.

An unintended pregnancy also puts a woman’s health at risk. Women whose pregnancies are unplanned do not get prenatal care. This makes them more likely to go through early labor or give birth to infants with low birth weight.

And as hospitals scramble to handle COVID-19 cases, a surge in unplanned pregnancies will burden the health system even more.

Many women in the Philippines do not have access to birth control. This has been true, even before COVID-19.

Unfortunately, when Puerto Princesa was placed under a strict lockdown in March, we had to close our reproductive health clinics and office. But when a government health provider from a remote health center asked us for help, our midwife May went the extra mile.

Armed with syringes and supplies from our clinic, she drove to their community and gave women free shots of DMPA, an injectable contraceptive. This shot prevents pregnancy for up to three months.

Thanks to May, more women can have better health, some peace of mind, and one less thing to worry about during this pandemic.

Support better choices and better health for women and girls.

The post Birth Control in the Philippines Under Lockdown appeared first on Roots Of Health.