More contraception, less corruption?

MANILA, Philippines – According to the Conference of Catholic Bishops of the Philippines, contraception leads to corruption.

But does it really?

Health consultant and Johns Hopkins University graduate Oscar Picazo posted on his Facebook page the graph above that argues otherwise

Picazo wrote on his wall: “The Catholic Church in its rally yesterday claimed that contraception leads to corruption. I tried to see a statistical basis for this assertion and gathered a few random countries’ contraceptive prevalence rate (CPR) and corruption perception (rankings).”

“It turns out that the Philippines, with the lowest CPR is the most corrupt, and countries with high CPRs (US, Turkey, South Korea, Australia) were the least corrupt. What this means to me is that contraception is associated with the dissipation of corruption, contrary to what the Catholic clergy says.” (Read: Catholics clash over controversial RH bill)

The CPR data were downloaded from the United Nations website while the corruption perception index (rankings) is from global corruption watchdog Transparency International.

Picazo, an independent consultant in health financing and systems with experience in the US, Kenya, and South Africa, told Rappler that he is “not out to prove anything” but the information “shows an interesting thing that social analysts need to explore further.”

When he was criticized by another Facebook user, the health consultant said that he only wished “to respond to the absurdity of the Catholic clergy’s claim, which boomerangs on them.”

“I was surprised that this posting has gone viral. But I am happy that it has at least set people talking about a very serious matter,” he added.

Presidential political adviser Ronald Llamas earlier said that the Church’s claim — expressed on Saturday during the anti-RH bill rally at the Edsa Shrine — “crosses the line into impropriety. (Read: Llamas: Contraception is not corruption) – Rappler.com