THE Philippines observes World TB Day today with the convening of the 2nd Partners Forum of the Philippine Partnership to Fight TB, Malaria and AIDS (PPTMA) at the Philippine International Convention Center to assess the progress of its programs to prevent and control these three major diseases.
This collaborative effort between the government and various private sector groups has five more years to go in order to meet the control targets for these dreaded diseases, in consonance with the Millenium Development Goals of the government.

Statistics show that the Philippines ranks 9th among the high-burden countries for TB, and malaria is endemic in 26 provinces, accounting for 90 percent of malaria cases nationwide. The HIV burden, though still small at 0.2 percent, remains a threat to all Third World countries since poverty and ignorance can eventually fuel the TB epidemic further.

"The socio-economic impact of these diseases in the productivity of the country cannot be overemphasized and must therefore be acted upon with a sense of urgency." Dr. Thelma Tupasi, president of Tropical Disease Foundation Inc. said.

The battle against these deadly diseases in the country is funded by the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria (GFATM), of which the TFDI is the principal recipient.

Speaking at the PPTMA forum today are Oren Ginzburg, GFATM portfolio manager; Dr. Evelyn Nieto, Health under-secretary; Dr. Gerard Belimac, Dr. Rosalind Vianzon, and Dr. Cristina Galang, who will discuss the national programs on HIV/AIDS, TB and malaria, respectively. WHO Country Representative Dr. Jean-Marc Olive will give the closing remarks.