Tuberculosis which was the number one cause of mortality about so years ago continue lo be n major killer of Filipi_nos. TB pi-cvulence in 2003 wus 458 per 100,000 · population (ADB, 2006) and this problem is made wori:;e by the resistant sl Tains of the TB microorgani sms. Unfortunate ly, TH wm J1ot significantly decline over the next 1. wo decades (ADB, 2004). Leprosy, too, is still a public health concern in some parts of the country. Schistosomiasis continues to affect hundred s of l:'laranga ys in 24 endemic provinces. Rabies incidence in the Philippines is one of the highest in tl,e world. It is estimated thul about 12% of the population arc chronic carriers of hepatitis B (DOH). The significance of tbis figure lies on th~ very close association between hepatitis B and hepatic carcinoma. Tluee fatal and debilitating diseascs-ma Jn1ia, filarinsis and dengue fever are hrougl1t about by the vector mosquito. IVJalaria. is endcm. ic in most provinces in the country. Filariasis, on the other hand, is endemk in the Bicol Region and some provinces in Rcgiun 10 and Aluvl M. In the past few years, there has been a significant increase_in the incidence of dengue fever (DOH). Mental illness Mental illness is the third most common form of disability, after visual and hearing impafrments, according to a disability survey by the National Stat is. tics Office in ::woo. Almost 2 deaths (t. 8) per 100. 000 poputat ion resulted from suicide and self-inf)jcted injudes. Jn anntber survey in 2004, 0. 7% of the households included have a family member with mental disability. The incidence of mealal illness is repurter. lly bjghest among older age groups. Othc1· vuloerable groups are drug users and those who could not cope with strc.-sses of daily living (NOH 200s). PRIMARY HEALTH CARE AND HEALTH PROMOTION TJ1c practice of commun ity health nursing is guided by the philosophy, goals,md strategies of primary heallb care and health prmnotion. In their search for more effective st:rategies am. l interventio ns, commu nity health nurses should also learn from the lessons o( Alma-Ata and the different,charters of health promo Lion. A major Jesson from ;ill of them is that meaningful improvements in the socioeconomic determina nts of health a re required to have sigoifica. i. 1t nmproven1en ts in people's health. Pr;mary health care In 1978, reprp_,;eatativesfrom 134 countries who attended the International Conference on Primary Healt J1 Care in AJrna-Ata, USSR signed the Declaratio n on Primary Healtl1 Cn1·e (Pl r C) because they believed that lhe global health situation was unjust. Thet·e was a wide gap in the health of underdeveloped and developed countries and even withi. n countries. Communit,, health nurses subscribe to Lhe beliefs articulated in the Declaration, specifical l):: (1) The promotion and protection oft he health of the people is essential to susta. ined economic and social rlevelopment and contributes to a better quality of life and to world reace; (2) The people have t'hc right and dnty to pnrticipnte individually and colle(;t;vely in the planning and implementation of tbeir hca Jtb care; (3) PHC is premised on tl Je spirit of social ju!-licc; and, (4) PHC is an integral part of the country's health system and of the overall social and economic development of ·the community ((WHO/UN[CEF t978:2-4). 30 