MANILA, May 2024—DKT Philippines Foundation, a charitable non-profit organization promoting family planning and HIV prevention, officially launched the SODEX (Service Outreach and Distribution Extension Program) Mobile Clinic – the country’s first-ever family planning ambulatory clinic. This pioneering effort aims to provide safe and accessible modern family planning methods for Filipinos in far-flung areas to bridge the gap between Filipinos wanting to space and limit pregnancy and the disparities in Family Planning service provision.

“DKT Philippines Foundation’s mission is to provide couples with affordable, and safe options for family planning, and HIV/AIDS prevention through dynamic social marketing.” said Loida Almendares, the Foundation’s Director of Programs. “The SODEX mobile clinic will provide a wide array of free family planning services especially in areas with lesser access to services like the geographically isolated or socially disadvantaged areas. The mobile clinic will bring the services closer to the people and meet them where they are,” she added.

The mobile clinic will provide free Family Planning commodities such as pills, condoms, injectables and intrauterine devices (IUD). It will also offer free bilateral tubal ligation (BTL) using local anesthesia and non-scalpel vasectomy (NSV). Onboarding the clinic are Physician/Surgeon trained on the provision of BTL, NSV, IUD, and subdermal implant services; FP-trained nurse; FP-trained midwife; a circulating staff, and a driver. To ensure that all clients are well-informed and fit to take the services, they will undergo counseling and final screening prior to getting the method.

“DKT Philippines Foundation and its Family Planning Mobile Clinic reinforce DKT’s commitment to ensuring nobody is left behind and provides free and quality reproductive health options including permanent methods, to those most remote and vulnerable communities. Made possible by the sales of family planning products under the TRUST Reproductive Health Choices brand, the mobile clinic ensures that people who still cannot afford the highly affordable TRUST products, or cannot access the reproductive health services they need in the public sector, are not left behind and still have free access to these services. It is a part of a total market approach, complementing the important work the local LGUs do on a daily basis.” said Denise van Dijk, Chair of the Board of DKT Philippines Foundation.

The mobile clinic will travel for 119 days to offer free services in the provinces of Central Luzon, North Luron, Cordillera, MIMAROPA and CALABARZON with the first stop being at Binangonan, Rizal where the launch took place. The clinic will stay in one area for a day or two from 8 AM to 6 PM. By next year, the mobile clinic will cover communities in the Visayas and Mindanao areas.

The programs and free services of DKT Philippines Foundation are made possible by the country’s leading brand of contraceptives TRUST Reproductive Health Choices, which is carried by the social enterprise DKT Health, Inc.

About DKT Philippines Foundation

DKT Philippines Foundation, Inc. is the foundation of DKT Health, Inc., the social enterprise behind the leading brand of contraceptives in the Philippines, TRUST Reproductive Health Choices, which has been working to promote family planning since 1991. They are at the forefront of sexual and reproductive health and rights here in the Philippines and have been working closely with local government units and like-minded organizations to promote responsible parenthood. The Foundation’s mission is to empower individuals to make informed decisions about their sexual and reproductive health through education and access to modern contraception.

One of the programs of DKT Philippines Foundation is the Service Outreach and Distribution Extension (SODEX) Program, which offers education and services on both temporary and permanent Family Planning methods in the Philippines

They are the only outreach service in the country that provides free Bilateral Tubal Ligations, Non Scalpel Vasectomy, and counseling on and direct service provision of modern types of contraception. such as pills, injectables, condoms, and intrauterine devices (IUD), all in one outreach event, Through the help of LGUs, they are committed to provide high-quality and affordable family planning options to all Filipinos, especially to those with lesser access to services.

SODEX aims to reach regions with disruptions in Family Planning services, including remote barangays with limited access to government and private sector resources, as well as economically- disadvantaged areas where residents lack the means to afford products and services. The goal of the program is to ensure that even the most marginalized communities have access to quality reproductive health care, leaving nobody behind.

To enable SODEX to reach more clients even in remote localities, DKT Philippines Foundation launched the SODEX Mobile Clinic, the first Family Planning ambulatory mobile clinic in the country, where procedures for Bilateral Tubal Ligations and Non-Scalpel Vasectomy will be performed and direct Family Planning services for all other contraceptive methods will be provided as well.