The Adolescent Health and

Development (AHD) Program

2017-2022

Empowering Young Filipinos

Demography of the Filipino Youth
• The youth cohort has grown
consistently over the past five
decades in keeping with the overall
growth of the Philippine population.

• Despite the growth in absolute

numbers, the share of the youth
population to the total population
has remained more or less stable at
20 percent between 1960 and 2015.
The Young Filipinos’ Sexual Risk Behaviors:
Quick Stats
 Sexual Risk Behaviors

Source: 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS)

 Sexual Risk Behaviors

Source: 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality (YAFS) Study

 Sexual Risk Behaviors
Narrowing gap in the level of premarital sex
prevalence between young men and women.

Source: 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS)

 Sexual Risk Behaviors

Source: 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS)

 Sexual Risk Behaviors
First Sexual Encounter

Source: 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS)

 Fertility Knowledge

The truth about teenage girls…

Teen females’ knowledge about conception.

• 75% believe that a woman can get pregnant

from one unprotected sex.
• 37% do not think that a woman cannot get
pregnant when she engages in sex anytime
during her menstrual cycle.
• 42% agree that a woman cannot get pregnant
if her partner did not ejaculate.

Source: 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS)

 Fertility Intentions

The truth about teenage boys…

Teenage boys desire to have three (3)
children on the average. If this future
cohort of fathers will achieve their desired
fertility, we may not see any significant
fertility decline in the next generation.

Source: 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS)

 Fertility Intentions

The truth about teenage

girls…
On average, teen females prefer to
have 2.3 children.

Source: 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS)

 Fertility Behavior
The truth about teenage boys…

About 4% of single teenage boys have gotten

someone pregnant.

Half of married teenage boys have children

and 4.3% of them admitted they have ever
gotten someone pregnant other than their
spouse/partner.

Source: 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS)

 Fertility Behavior

Source: 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS)

There’s a decrease in the proportion of women age 15-19 who
have begun childbearing based on the results of the National
Demographic & Health Survey (NDHS) 2013 and 2017.
10.5
10.1
10

9.5

9
8.6
8.5

7.5
2013 2017

Source: 2013 and 2017 NDHS, PSA & ICF

 Regional Adolescent Fertility
Percentage of Women Age 15-19 Who Have Begun Child Bearing by
Region: Philippines, 2017
17.9
14.7 14.5
13.2
10.3
8.6 8.9 9.2 8.5
7.8 7.4 7.5 8.2
6.9
5.6 5.3
3.5 4.4

Source: 2017 NDHS, PSA & ICF

Incidence of teenage pregnancy is highest in regions XI, X

and XII respectively.
Rural teenagers start childbearing slightly earlier than
urban teenagers.

Percent of Young Women Age 15-19 and 15-24 who are mothers or
pregnant with their first child

25 22 28
9 7 10

Total Urban Rural

Age 15-19 Age 15-24

Source: 2017 NDHS, PSA & ICF

 Live Births by Teen Mothers
The youngest recorded age of mother at first birth was exact age 10. The
incidence of teenage fertility generally grow rapidly after age 15.
Number of Births by Single Age of Mother Ages 10-19: Philippines, 2017

90000

80000 77310

70000

60000 55015

50000

40000 36693

30000

18674
20000

10000 6,709
65 243 1724
22 23
0
10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Source: 2017 Vital Registration, PSA

 Profile of “Batang Ama”
• Of those who are married, more are in
a live-in arrangement than in a formal
union.

• About a fifth (18.2%) had no

schooling or with an elementary
education.

• Majority (85%) were raised by both

parents. (7% were raised by solo
parents, 4% by one parent and
another person while the rest were
raised in alternative set-ups i.e. raised
by people other than their biological
parents).

Source: 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS)

 Profile of “Batang Ina”
• Two-thirds are in living-in
arrangement; 13% have
never been married.

• More than a quarter is

below the legal age of 18.

• Mostly high school

undergraduates or high
school graduates.

• About 76% have premarital

sex experience.
Source: 2013 Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study (YAFS)
PPMP GENDER AND
DEVELOPMENT
PHILIPPINE POPULATION MANAGEMENT PROGRAM (PPMP)
“ ASRH programming should be
approached from an ecological
perspective, with the belief that
individual behaviors and decisions
are not made or practiced in a
vacuum, and that social norms and
“
institutions often determine the
choices available to most
individuals.

advocatesforyouth
 CAUSAL FRAMEWORK FOR TEENAGE PREGNANCY

• Demographic Factors
• Age and sex • Demographic Factors • Demographic Factors
• Birth order • Family size • Population size
• Marital status • Population composition
• Civil status
• Location • Population distribution
• Psycho-social factors • Peers and social
• Psycho-social factors • Parental guidance
• Gender-identity circle
• KAP on sexuality and • Peer influence
• Self-esteem/self- ARH • Normative group
acceptance
INDIVIDUAL HOUSEHOLD
• Parental INSTITUTIONAL
behaviors
• Social competence values/principles • Local governance
• Self-efficacy • Access to media • policy and program
TEENAGE • Access and exposure • Socio-economic environment (availability
PREGNANCY to media/ICT factors of services)
• Socio-economic • Income • School, church, and
factors • Education other organizations
• Income • Health and nutrition and institutions
• Educational status • Employment • Media
• Health and nutrition • Socio-economic
• Employment factors
 STRATEGIC FRAMEWORK

PREVENTION
STRATEGIES

SERVICE
UTILIZATION

SOCIAL
PROTECTION
Adolescent Health and Development (AHD)
Program Objectives for 2017-2022

To enable adolescents (aged 10-19 years) to prevent

early and repeated pregnancies.

• To reduce by half the adolescent birth rate

specifically from 57 births among aged 15-19 years
per 1,000 live births to 28.5 births by 2022; and

• To achieve zero repeated pregnancies among

minors who have begun childbearing.
 Key Strategies for 2017-2022
• Comprehensive sexuality education (CSE) in
schools and in alternative learning systems
(communities) using interactive and peer-
to-peer communication strategies.
 Key Strategies for 2017-2022

• Setting-up of an effective information and delivery

network (ISDN) among institutions.
 Key Strategies for 2017-2022

• Setting-up of an effective information and delivery

network (ISDN) among institutions.
Towards ISDN…

ISDN - network of health facilities and providers within the province-

or city-wide health system, offering core packages of health care
services in an integrated and coordinated manner.
How to connect…

Demand Service
Generation Delivery
Provision of critical Provision of timely
and accurate and appropriate
information to enable Establishment of healthcare services to
young people to make the young people
CHOICES and REFERRAL
DECISIONS for their
health and PATHWAYS
development
 Key Strategies for 2017-2022
• Setting-up of functional and sustainable teen
centers in every city and municipality.
 Key Strategies for 2017-2022
• Enabling parents, youth leaders, and other adult
groups to effectively guide adolescents in forming
responsible sexuality.
Getting the parents on board through the
Parent Education on Adolescent Health
and Development …
 Objectives of the Parent Education
on Adolescent Health and Development

• Equip the parents and educate them with the necessary

knowledge on sexuality and other health related
concerns of adolescents and skills on communicating
such concerns to their children; and

• Highlight the role of parents as primary source of

accurate and sound information on adolescent health and
development.
 Training Tools for Parents of Adolescents:
Learning Package on Parent Education for Adolescent
Health and Development

• Me as Parent
• Me and my Family
• Knowing and Understanding
my Adolescent
• Building a Positive
Relationship with my
Adolescent
• Harnessing my Adolescent
with Life Skills
 Training Tools for Adolescents and Youth:
Sexually Healthy and Personally Empowered (SHAPE)
Adolescent Modules

• Adolescent Sexual and Reproductive Health

• Youth Empowerment
• Life Skills
 Key Strategies for 2017-2022
• Optimizing new information and communication
technologies to reach out to adolescents in online
and digital media (e.g. social media).
U4U: Youth for Youth Initiative
Anong bakas ang iyong iiwan?

A youth hub initiative of

POPCOM and UNFPA.

Aims to deliver critical

information to Filipino teens
aged 10-19 years old to prevent
or reduce the incidence of early
pregnancy and sexually
transmitted infections including
HIV/AIDS.
What are the U4U platforms?
 Online Portal
(www.u4u.ph)
A dynamic and
interactive website
that allows teen
users to learn about
self-identity, life
skills, friendships and
health advocacy
among others.
 Social Media
(www.facebook.com/U4U.ph)
 Teen Trail

An educational and
entertaining teen
caravan that is set up
in schools and
communities and
managed by teens
themselves. Includes
interactive exhibit,
fun workshops, songs
and dances.
U4U Teen Trail…
U4U: Youth for Youth Initiative
Anong bakas ang iyong iiwan?
Adolescent Health and Development
Independent Film Festival
A nationwide contest which serves
as a venue to create awareness on
the status of today’s adolescents
and young people.

For its initial production in 2015,

the theme was, “Ang pag-aaral ay
para sa hinaharap, huwag ipagpalit
sa sandaling sarap”. It featured
issues on teen-age pregnancy
written, directed, and produced by
the youth.
 Key Strategies for 2017-2022
• Enabling LGUs, CSOs, and private sector to
improve access of adolescents to appropriate
reproductive health information and services.
 Key Strategies for 2017-2022
• Developing and implementing local policies
and programs to prevent exposure of
adolescents to risky behaviors (e.g. drinking,
smoking, and drug use).
Policy Research
Parental Involvement in
Adolescent Health and
Development(POPCOM and
UPPI, 2012)

 Aimed to describe parents in terms

of their knowledge, perception and
attitude regarding parent-child
relationship, their level of
involvement in various health and
development concerns of their
children and their perception of
their role as parents in addressing
health risks of their children.
Policy Research
“Post-Millennial Filipinos:
Renewed Hope vs Risks”
(Further Studies of the 2013
Young Adult Fertility and
Sexuality Study) POPCOM and
DRDF, 2015

 Composed of 17 regional
papers that tackle various
issues of young people based
on the YAFS Study 4 data.
National Adolescent Health and Youth
Development Technical Working Group

Led by the Department of Health, National Youth

Commission and Commission on Population and
Development

-Network of Government, Non-Government,

Development Partners working for policy and
program recommendations on AHD
 Support to Senate Bill 1888 and
House Bill 4742:
Prevention of Adolescent Pregnancy Act of
2017
• An act that provides for a national policy to:
o Prevent teenage pregnancies
o Institutionalize social protection for teenage parents
o Recognize and promote the responsibility of the State to
create and sustain an enabling environment for
adolescents
The proposed Bill covers the following:

o Development of National Program of Action and

Investment Plan for the Prevention of Teenage Pregnancy
o Organization of regional and local ISDN
o Development and promotion of CSE for students and
parents/guardians
o Establishment of teen centers
 Recommendations:
For PRRD to issue an Executive Order
for the Prevention of Teenage
Pregnancy
 Commission on Population and Development
Welfareville Compound, Acacia Lane, Mandaluyong City
Telephone No: (632) 531-6805
Fax: (632) 533-5122
Website: www.popcom.gov.ph
Facebook: commissiononpopulation
Twitter and Instagram: @OfficialPOPCOM