DAVAO CITY -- UNFPA, the United Nations Population Fund, reported an increase in family planning use and a decrease in maternal deaths in areas covered by its reproductive health program in five indigenous peoples ancestral domain sites.

In the three years of implementation of the Indigenous Peoples Maternal, Newborn and Child Health and Nutrition (IPMNCHN) Project, contraceptive use have increased in the project areas in Agusan del Sur, Bukidnon, Compostela Valley, North Cotabato, and Zamboanga del Sur.

“Compostela Valley has the highest contraceptive prevalence rate at 77 per cent as of September 2015, from a baseline of 47 per cent in 2012. In Agusan del Sur, contraceptive use among married women is now at 52 per cent from 8 per cent in 2012,” said Klaus Beck, UNFPA Country Representative.

In terms of maternal deaths, Mr. Beck said there were no deaths reported in the project sites in Agusan del Sur, North Cotabato and Zamboanga del Sur as of September last year. In Compostela Valley, which had five reported maternal deaths in 2013, the number is down to one, while in Bukidnon, which had two and three maternal deaths reported in 2013 and 2014, respectively, it was back to two last year.

The number of women giving birth in health facilities also increased in all sites.

Mr. Beck acknowledged though that despite the gains, more work is needed in some aspects of the project.

“We need to get all statistics on maternal and infant deaths to zero. Related to this, we need to encourage more IP women to give birth assisted by a skilled health personnel such as a trained nurse, midwife or a doctor. We also need to educate them on the importance of pre-natal check-ups to ensure that both them and their babies are healthy throughout the pregnancy and into deliveries,” Mr. Beck emphasized.

Funded by the European Union with contribution from UNFPA, the IPMNCHN Project started in January 2013 and implemented by the Department of Health (DOH) and the National Commission on Indigenous Peoples (NCIP), with the IP communities as partners.

As its role in the project, UNFPA worked to improve access to and utilization of quality essential reproductive health services in selected IP communities in the five ancestral domain sites through a comprehensive and culturally-sensitive implementation of the national strategy on Maternal, Neonatal and Child Health and Nutrition.

The project has been extended up to December this year from an original end date of June 2016.

“The remaining eight months gives us an opportunity to take a deeper look at the lingering challenges in the IP communities’ reproductive health concerns and address them accordingly,” Mr. Beck said.