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Roots of Health is the only non-government organization in Palawan that provides free reproductive health services. Our clinic is located in Puerto Princesa City and is one of the major ways we provide our free, confidential, safe, and accessible clinical reproductive services. Our clinic is a key part of how we help improve women’s reproductive health and decrease the number of unplanned pregnancies by providing sexuality health education, access to modern contraceptives, family planning counseling, prenatal check ups, pap smears, and HIV testing in the near future.
In 2018, we served over 20,000 women and adolescents through our clinic and community outreach programs.
Roots of Health works with some of the most rural, underserved communities in Puerto Princesa and Palawan. Our communities have some of the highest unmet contraceptive need rates, the highest number of children/family members, the highest number of teenage pregnancy, highest levels of malnutrition, highest levels of general health problems, and lowest levels of education and income in Puerto Princesa.
These women and girls live in marginalized circumstances, often with no electricity or source of clean water. They do not have access to any paid health services, and government services are difficult to access. Most of the women are unemployed, with their partners or husbands working as casual laborers. They generally have three or four children and often experience their first pregnancy at the age of 16 or even younger. Some have finished elementary school, but very few have finished high school.
The root of many of these issues is a lack of access to information about reproductive health, as well as a lack of access to tools and services to improve health. We present interactive workshops that engage women in learning and in a conversation about their bodies, reproductive health systems, pregnancy, family planning, STIs, breastfeeding, nutrition, family relations, financial literacy, budgeting and other related topics.
Roots of Health provides clinical and health services to women in these communities. We help provide access to health services that give women the choice to control if and when they become pregnant. When our clients do become pregnant, planned or not, we provide prenatal and postpartum services to ensure the continued health of these women and their children.
We provide tools such as contraceptives to allow women and girls to have better control of whether and when they get pregnant.
We provide prenatal and postpartum checks to decrease the risks during pregnancy and ensure that moms have a healthy delivery.
Pregnant mothers can get free prenatal vitamins from our clinics. This helps ensure both mothers and babies are healthy during pregnancy.
By providing free pregnancy testing, we can help more women find out about their pregnancy as early as possible, so that they can start accessing prenatal care.
We provide free HIV screenings at our clinics and through community-based screening motivators. We also link clients to treatment facilities when needed.
Women who want to know more information and contribute to supporting health in their communities have the option to pursue further training with ROH to become Community Health Advocates.
Our Community Health Advocates are an integral part of our community initiatives and help ensure the longevity and sustainability of our programs in communities.
The Community Health Advocates work alongside and assist our clinical team by helping to keep track of the women in their communities. They help track when women are due for a prenatal check up, a new pill pack, a new DMPA injection, or to provide basic first aid checks in their communities.
We currently have 72 committed Community Health Advocates
Our Community Health Advocates serve 2,566 girls and women across their respective communities
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