The Philippines intensifies its fight against three important public health problems through the Philippine Partnership to Fight TB, Malaria, and AIDS which will be launched at the 1st Forum at the Philippine International Convention Center on June 4 in collaboration with the 24th International Congress of Chemotherapy (ICC).
Led by the Philippine Department of Health, all stakeholders interested in the fight against the diseases are invited to attend the first forum, which will encourage public private partnership fostered by the Global Fund to fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (GFATM).
The GFATM was created in 2002 to provide additional resources to those who can make a difference in the control of the said diseases.
Dr. Thelma E. Tupasi, president of the Tropical Disease Foundation Inc.(the principal recipient of the GF projects in the Philippines) is also the president of the 24th ICC.
The first forum will highlight the health and economic burden of these three diseases in the Philippines today and discuss the options for possible control of these diseases to meet the Millennium Development Goals of the government. The goal seeks a 50 percent decline in the mortality and morbidity of these diseases by 2015 or earlier.
Private and public partnerships to fight these three diseases are currently being pursued by coalitions such as the Philippine Coalition Against Tuberculosis (PhilCAT), the Philippine National Aids Council (PNAC), the Philippine Business for Social Progress (PBSP), and the Kilusan Ligtas Malaria (KLM).
The program for those attending the first forum will also include attendance in key symposia of the 24th ICC on tuberculosis: "Decreasing TB Morbidity and Mortality" and "The Politics of TB Drug Development."
Particulars are available from the website: www.psmid.org. Registration is open to all nurses, paramedical and doctors interested in tuberculosis, malaria and AIDS.
