MANILA, Philippines—It’s not your typical comics since its stories are a bit “sensitive, tackling issues such as puberty, adolescent sexuality as well as teen pregnancy and why it should be discouraged.

To make it more appealing to its intended readers—Grade 5 pupils to up to 4th year high school students—the Adolescent Health Issues and Perspectives (Ahip) comics adopted characters in animé-style drawings.

“We poured our collective wisdom into making this comics more acceptable to our intended readers who are now at a stage of becoming more aware of their sexuality and the physical and emotional changes that go with it. Indeed, the issues covered here are quite sensitive that even teenagers themselves find too personal to openly discuss with their parents, teachers, much more authorities,” said Dr. Rosendo Roque, project director of Ahip comics and past president of Philippine Obstetrical and Gynecological Society.

He added that the 50-page Ahip comics is part of the much larger Ahip program that has become POGS’ centerpiece since 2004 to save young women from unwanted pregnancy and cervical cancer.

Top killers

“These two are the top killers besetting our teenage mothers. If the maternal mortality rate is used as an indicator of a nation’s health, then the Philippines is in pretty bad shape,” Roque informed.

Maternal mortality is defined as the death of a woman during pregnancy or in the 42 days following birth due to causes directly or indirectly associated with the pregnancy.

Roque said that based on the reported maternal mortality rate from 2000 to 2007, the country registered 2,625 maternal deaths. This figure, he pointed out, barely improved if compared to the records of other Southeast Asian countries.

Teenage mothers, Roque explained, not only have to face social stigma and discrimination but also are more prone to complications related to pregnancy.

“It’s true that the Philippines has a declining MMR. However, at the current rate, the country is unlikely to reach the United Nation’s Millennium Development Goal No. 5, which aims to improve maternal health by 2015. Through POGS efforts, we hope we will be able to further accelerate the decline and hopefully meet the goal,” he said.

30,000 comics

Roque admitted that despite the more than 30,000 Ahip comics that will be published and distributed this year, POGS will not be able to cover all of the country’s teen population (ages 13-19), now pegged at 13.1 million, or 15 percent of the total population.

“Which is why we keep on reminding the recipients to it along. To be able to publish such a number is already a feat and we thank our supporters like sanofi-aventis Philippines for helping us realize one of the Ahip objectives. In the end, what POGS would like to achieve is to be able to open up a communication channel with teenagers since we are in a better position to help and educate them,” said Dr. Ma. Corazon Zaida Noblejas-Gamilla, POGS president.

This is also the reason the Ahip comics is distributed during an open forum and counseling that POGS regularly arranges with public and private schools as well as locally based organizations that cater to out-of-school youths.

“Since Ahip program started in 2004, POGS is now able to meet more than 17,000 pupils and students not only here in Metro Manila but also in provinces like Romblon, Aklan, Ilocos Norte and Ifugao,” Gamilla reported.

Unplanned pregnancy

She added that the Ahip comics will serve as a helpful medium in bringing POGS concerns to its teen readers.

“Teen pregnancy is one of the issues that the Ahip comics deal with. Teenagers are in a particularly vulnerable stage when they are more likely to experiment with sex as fueled by their inquisitiveness, by their peer’s urging, or by the influence of what they see and hear in the media,” Gamilla said.

Sadly, a report revealed that 94 percent of those who already had sex said they were unwilling and unprepared to become parents.

“This is alarming considering that of the estimated 1.7 to 2 million babies born every year, around 30 percent come from young women,” Gamilla reported.

Roque added that information is the best weapon that POGS could provide at the moment in order to address the issue.

“While the Ahip comics answers some of these issues I believe that adults also has a huge part in making themselves the role model the youth could respect, be proud of and emulate by example. As professionals, we could make them include in their values, responsible love and sex, responsible parenthood and reproductive health,” Roque suggested.