Tuberculosis ravages Philippine slums

Philippine health officials are warning that up to 90% of the country's population could be infected with tuberculosis within 40 years unless the funding of schemes to stamp out the disease is dramatically increased. More than a third of all Filipinos live below the poverty line, and the problem of tuberculosis is particularly acute in poor areas, according to the World Health Organisation's 1999 World Health Report.

In the country's slums, up to 39% of children aged between 5 and 9 are already infected—which is twice the national average. Cramped, overcrowded housing, poor ventilation, low immunity owing to malnutrition, delayed diagnosis, and …