In 1985, the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) through the AIDS Research Program pioneered HIV/AIDS related activities in the country. This include clinical and laboratory research, prevalence and risk behavior/education/intervention studies and multidisciplinary approach to care. The efforts of the investigators paved the way for the creation of the National AIDS Program of the Department of Health (DOH) and the establishment of AIDS service organizations (or NGOs) with some of their former members now holding important positions in international agencies like UNAIDS. RITM is a referral center for the clinical management of HIV/AIDS, setting the standard for the quality of care.

The objectives of the research program are: 1) to conduct biomedical and other socially relevant research that will help in the prevention of HIV/AIDS and subsequently reduce the impact of the disease in the country and 2) to improve the medical care for all Filipinos with HIV/AIDS through multidisciplinary approaches in medical management.

RITM maintains a database on the socio-demographic and clinical profile of Filipinos with HIV/AIDS through its research activities. This is a rich source of secondary information for medical, social and behavioral research. One important work done was the study on the prevalence of HIV/AIDS and STDs among risk groups conducted in 1988-1990 and 1993 in several cities in Metro Manila. This study provided important data that were utilized in clinical care and STD/HIV/AIDS program development. No similar information was available in Metro Manila over the past 10 years. Other research are: natural history of HIV/AIDS among Filipinos, use of antiretrovirals among Filipinos with HIV/AIDS, HIV-1 subtype determination, cost effective studies on inexpensive methods of HIV testing and studies on the economic impact of HIV/AIDS. The investigators have also developed an AIDS education module for high school students; this module has been turned over to the Department of Education and Culture. A module developed for overseas Filipino workers is currently being used by the POEA and other private recruiting agencies for their pre-departure seminars.

The on-going research are: 1) Peer education as a strategy for AIDS prevention among adolescents in collaboration with the University of California in San Francisco, 2) Development of a speaker’s bureau in collaboration with Levi’s Strauss and 3) A study on the virologic, immunologic and clinical determinants of HIV disease outcome among Filipinos.