A Month-long Celebration of World TB Day

Philippines – A Month-long Celebration of World TB Day: The Philippines celebrated World Tuberculosis (TB) Day, held annually on March 24, through a month-long series of activities. A number of USAID-supported events helped to raise awareness of the burden of TB in the Philippines and highlighted the efforts of national and local governments and civil society to eradicate TB.

The keynote World TB Day event was celebrated on March 28 in Marikina City where the Secretary of Health, Francisco Duque III, announced that the Philippine government would triple its budget for TB control programs in 2008. Over the past month, USAID has supported the following events in the Philippines to raise awareness of TB prevention, detection and treatment:

On March 31, USAID/Philippines Deputy Mission Director Elzadia Washington joined the launching of an Anti-TB Coalition in Bohol, where stakeholders signed a pledge of commitment to eradicate TB in the province.

On April 4 in Payatas, a poor community located near a solid waste facility in metro Manila, USAID kicked off a TB health education campaign funded in part by a local recycling project.

On April 11, USAID/Philippines Director Jon Lindborg joined national and local government officials in Pampanga, a province north of metro Manila, to recognize the support provided by provincial and city health officials in the fight against TB.

On April 22 in Sarangani province in Mindanao, USAID helped launch a public-private partnership between Stanfilco, a division of DOLE Philippines, the KASILAK Foundation, and Sarangani health officials to initiate a program to provide TB treatment and education in the workplace to employees and their families.



Children from the community of Payatas in metro Manila, representatives from USAID/Philippines, and local health officials participate in the launch of a TB public education campaign.


Other Highlights

Philippines – Strengthening Human Resources Management at the Bureau of Internal Revenue: To support improved revenue administration in the Philippines, the Millennium Challenge Account – Philippine Threshold Program (MCA-PTP) recently turned-over to the Bureau of Internal Revenue (BIR) the Human Resource Information Management Office. The office will house a personnel and performance tracking database that will automate BIR's human resources management. MCA-PTP assistance is helping BIR to enhance its management efficiency, effectively track career performance, and maintain transparency and accountability in the hiring process.



BIR Deputy Commissioner Lilia C. Guillermo and MCA-PTP Deputy Chief of Party James King (2nd and 3rd from left) preside at the ribbon-cutting ceremony to launch the Human Resource Information Management Office. Also attending the ceremony were BIR Assistant Commissioner Atty. Leonor Villalon-Rogers (left) and Deputy Commissioner Atty. Celia C. King (right).


Philippines: Improving the Quality of English Language Instruction: USAID's Education Quality and Access for Learning and Livelihood Skills (EQuALLS) Project offered a five-day training (April 14-18) for 40 English teachers in Zamboanga City. The teachers—who come from the Zamboanga peninsula, central Mindanao and the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM)—will, in turn, to train approximately 500 of their fellow teachers in English comprehension. The April14 - April 18 training included public elementary school English teachers and professors from teacher training colleges. USAID's EQuALLS project aims to improve access to quality education and livelihood skills for children and out-of-school youth in poverty and conflict-affected communities in Mindanao.

Participants in the USAID-funded EQuALLS Project training for English teachers held April 14 - April 18 in Zamboanga City.

Philippines – On-line Course on Trade Issues: On April 17, USAID's Economic Modernization through Efficient Reforms and Governance Enhancement (EMERGE) Project helped launch a program that will strengthen the capacity of government and civil society to participate in international trade forums and negotiations. The Philippine Global Trade e-Learning Program II (PGTEP II) is a 5-month course that will combine lectures, workshops and on-line instruction for approximately 400 participants from the Philippine government, business sector, civil society organizations, and academia. EMERGE provided earlier support for phase one of the e-learning program, with the second phase including new courses on negotiations and Regional Trade Agreements.