DO THE BUSHIES WANT ABSTINENCE OR MARKET BRANDS?

JONATHAN ROE, MANILLA - Perhaps you had the impression that the Bush
Administration was opposed to family planning in the Third World because
of moral scruples regarding contraception and the like. Give people
condoms and next thing you know, they might. . . well, actually do it.
But just possibly, the scruples have been more over the lack of
opportunities for corporations in the planning pot.

That's the message that comes through in a recent employment ad in the
Philippines Inquirer, which is one of the national dailies here. The ad
was sponsored jointly by the U.S. Agency for International Development
and something called Private Sector Mobilization for Family Planning, or
PRISM as some PR firm has anacronymed it. The ad is for an information
techie . . . What is of interest is the nature of PRISM and the way this
organization defines its goals.

PRISM calls itself a "consortium" led by Chemonics International, a
private consulting firm that, according to its web site, has a bias for
"market-based" solutions. That's pretty apparent from the description of
the project itself. Here's the list of aims:

- Increased workplace support for FP (family planning) services and
referrals.

- Establishment of viable, mass market brands of hormonal
contraceptives.

- Increased business value of FP among private practice providers. . .

Number two is almost chilling in its candor. The goal is not to make
contraceptives widely available to those who need them most. It is to
develop mass market brands for contraceptives. That is looking at the
problem from the standpoint of the corporation, not from the standpoint
of those who desperately need this help. . .

Number three apparently means finding more ways for doctors to make
money off of family planning. . .

There is a common belief that the main impediment to family planning in
the Philippines is the Catholic Church. The Church doesn't help; but my
own experience here suggests that Filipino women listen to the priests
about as much as their American counterparts do on this point. (Abortion
is a different matter.) Machismo is a problem too. Still, a lot more
people would use condoms if they just had access to them. Access has to
be the first goal. But markets work on the basis of scarcity not
abundance. Corporations do not make money on that which is available to
all.

The tagline on the USAID logo on the employment ad in the Philippine
Inquirer is FROM THE AMERICAN PEOPLE. They could at least have the
courtesy to ask us before they say that.