By Beverly C. Paoyon
ALABEL, Sarangani (August 12, 2014) - Sarangani has started the mass administration of a long-term implant female contraception that thwarts pregnancy in three years.
The implant, called Implanon, is a small, flexible plastic rod which is four centimeters long and two millimeters in diameter inserted underneath the skin in the upper arm which contains 68 milligrams of the active substance etonogestrel, a synthetic female hormone resembling progesterone.
Dr. Bethea Facelo, a medical officer in Maitum who volunteered services during the mass administration, said certain amount of the substance is secreted daily in the bloodstream causing the uterus lining to thin out thus making women incapable to get pregnant.
Administration of this birth control cost around P5,000 in private hospitals and clinics, she said, but the provincial government of Sarangani is giving it out for free in partnership with the Department of Health and Family Planning Organization of the Philippines.
Municipal health officer Honorato Fabio reported more than a hundred patients have been inserted with Implanon in Alabel while a series of free mass administration is expected to follow in the remaining six towns of Sarangani.
Last year, a number of doctors and health personnel in every municipality were trained particularly for the administration of the implant contraceptive.
This, according to Fabio, supports the World Health Organization’s promotion for family planning where couples should control their desired number of children at the same time practice proper spacing between child births.
Women’s ability to space and limit pregnancies, he said, would greatly contribute on her well-being and her family.
Among other available family planning methods, this implant contraceptive is recommended especially for busy and multi-gravid women who are scared to undergo ligation.
This activity, is among the highlights of this month’s family planning celebration anchored on the theme “Ang Planadong Buhay ay Maayos na Buhay.” (Beverly C. Paoyon/SARANGANI INFORMATION OFFICE)
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