The city government of Makati on Thursday launched its Baby Makatizen Program, a project aim to promote the welfare of both mother and child through timely birth registration and proper prenatal care.
Mayor Abigail Binay led the distribution of Baby Makatizen starter bags to 100 mothers who were chosen to participate in the launch for having registered their babies within 30 days after giving birth between January to March this year.
Each bag contains a set of onesies, one toy rattle, one pack of baby wipes, and 30 pieces of disposable baby diapers.
Binay said the two-pronged strategy in program implementation seeks to increase public awareness on the importance of registering newborns, and to encourage expecting mothers to undergo proper prenatal care for their wellbeing as well as to ensure safe delivery and a healthy baby.
“Prompt birth registration upholds a child’s basic rights to a name and to acquire a nationality. We also want to emphasize how vital it is for a child to gain access to all basic services and programs of the government that are essential to his or her optimum development, including health and education,” she said.
“Through the Baby Makatizen Program, we also aim to persuade pregnant women to avail themselves of quality prenatal care which is available for free at our barangay health centers under the supervision of the Makati Health Department,” added Binay.
The city chief executive said the city has allocated 10,300 Baby Makatizen bags for distribution to qualified beneficiaries this year. After the launch, the city health department will oversee program implementation through the city-run barangay health centers, Ospital ng Makati, and partner-private hospitals and clinics in the city.
Barangay health centers in the city provide pregnant women with free prenatal and postnatal check-ups, as well as vitamin supplements during pregnancy and after delivery. On the other hand, infants are given free vaccines for common childhood diseases as well as other special vaccines.
At the launching held at the Session Hall of Makati City Hall Building II, participants listened to a short talk on the importance of timely birth registration, including the perils faced by unregistered children, which was given by Paciano Dizon, OIC-regional director of the Philippine Statistics Authority-National Capital Region.
Earlier, the city government announced its search for the first 100 recipients of the Baby Makatizen starter bags on social media and invited mothers to sign up for the event through the City Civil Registration Office (CCRO), which was tasked to validate the timely birth registration of their babies.
Based on CCRO records for the first quarter of 2018, Makati has a total of 2,020 birth registrations, which consist of 1,529 on-time registration and 491 delayed registration. Among the delayed registrants are 288 toddlers (0 to 5 years old), 64 children (6 to 17 years old), 65 young adults (18 to 39 years old), 38 adults (40 to 59 years old), and 36 senior citizens (60 years old and above).
In 2017, the city recorded a total of 7,859 birth registrations, of which 6,441 were timely while 1,418 were delayed. For 2016, the city had a total of 7,865 birth registrations consisting of 6,600 timely registrants and 1,265 delayed registrants.
Meanwhile, the Expanded Immunization Program of Makati under MHD covers several common childhood diseases, namely, measles, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, hepatitis B, tuberculosis, and haemophilus influenza type b (Hib) for newborns and babies up to 48 months. Upon birth, the BCG (Bacillus-Calmette-Guerin) vaccine, which prevents tuberculosis among newborns up to 12 months, and the Hepa-B vaccine are administered for free in the city-run lying-in centers.
