The Philippine Department of Health is set to conduct a door-to-door campaign starting February to promote the government's family planning program, a government official said Wednesday.

"The door-to-door campaign will give information about the different methods, whether artificial or natural, on family planning," Population Commission chief Tomas Osias told the local radio DZMM.

"If this pushes through, it would be a good strategy since it would reach out to the less fortunate countrymen who really need (to know about) family planning," he added.

Osias said 40 percent of the 84 million Filipino population is 15 years old and below, adding that those in the 15 to 65 age bracket are supporting two to three dependents.

"This explains why we have little savings, why we can't invest in productive programs and projects that can accelerate economic growth," he said.

He added that availability and accessibility of artificial family planning aids is essential to the success of the government's population program.

The country's population growth rate was pegged at 2.36 percentannually, the highest in Asia and equivalent to an addition of 1.7million babies every year, according to the National Statistics Office.

Source: Xinhua