BAGUIO CITY — The Cordillera office of the National Statistics Office (NSO) here disclosed that the fertility rate of Filipino women has gradually decreased over the past two years from the average of 5.1 children in 1983 to 3.5 in 2003 and to 3.3 in 2008.

In terms of teenage child birth, 10 percent of women aged 15 to 19 are already mothers or had their pregnancy with their first child.

At the same time, childhood mortality in the country is relatively low as 80 percent of Filipino children aged 12 to 23 months receive all vaccines recommended by the health department.

Results of the NSO demographic survey in 2008 showed awareness about human immunodeficiency virus – acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV-AIDS) among Filipino women is high, although knowledge of HIV-AIDS prevention is low.

The national demographic and health survey was designed to provide data for monitoring the population and health survey in the country.

Engineer Olivia Gulla, NSO-CAR regional director, said the agency has been conducting data dissemination nationwide in order to update the concerned local governments regarding the outcome of the survey.

According to her, the results of the survey is important for the development of planning efforts to improve government and private sector programs, especially on health and women empowerment.

The survey also showed one out of three pregnancies is considered to be unwanted by the concerned woman, thus, the same is considered to be alarming due to the exposure of women to  premarital sex even at a young age.

Health authorities believe the outcome of the survey, especially the results showing the active sex life of young Filipino women, will serve as a basis in the crafting of new strategies in order to inform and educate young women on the dangers of early pregnancies that could affect their health in the future.