ILOILO City – The improved adolescent awareness mobile application called AHlam Na 2.0 was launched Friday, Nov. 4, by the Commission on Population and Development (Popcom) in Western Visayas.
AHlam Na 2.0 aka “AHlam ni Mahla” was designed by the Iloilo State College of Fisheries (ISCOF) and PopCom-6.
The original version of the app, launched in 2018, was improved to make it more interactive.
Both versions provide correct and accurate information on adolescents and sexual reproductive health to the younger generations.
The 2018 version only covered topics on puberty, sexually transmitted infections, human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immune deficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS), and sexuality.
The AHlam Na! 2.0 version, meanwhile, has improved features on the interface and more diverse topics such as vaccination mental health, among others.
It has new game modes such as Fact or Bluff, Multiple Choice, Fill-in the Blank, Word Puzzle, and Guess the Word. Games points can be converted to redeem prepaid mobile load cards.
It has also introduced the game’s avatar named MAHLA who interacts to the users and provides accurate information on adolescent health and other topics such as nutrition, mental health, immunization, referral services, and a directory of service providers.
PopCom-6 regional director Harold Alfred Marshall said the mobile application is part of the commission’s advocacy to promote Adolescent Health and Development (AHD) as one of the program thrusts under the Philippine Population and Development Program (PPDP).
The main goal of AHDP is to reduce the incidence of adolescent pregnancies and repeated pregnancies.
However, Marshall admitted that there is no guarantee of an immediate impact especially on reducing teenage pregnancies.
“What we are doing here is simply providing adolescents with correct, proper, relevant, timely information. It’s still a matter of choice. Bisan pila pa ka apps siguro ang i-develop naton if they will not utilize that and make use of the information, it is still pointless. It is still up to them,” said Marshall.
But he added that even without the app, they are always advocating for responsible adolescent sexuality.
“If they take it to heart, well and good. But if not, then we will try other ways of convincing them to be sexually responsible,” Marshall said.
Meanwhile, Roilo Vincent Laguna, head of the Technical Services Division of PopCom-6, said they will conduct popularization activities to promote the mobile app.
He said they will collaborate with local government units as well as Department of Education Region 6 to also promote the application to students./PN
