Stop TB Partnership announces the Legal Environment and Human Rights Scorecard
The Scorecard aims to enhance visibility and multisectoral accountability regarding legal, policy and human rights barriers experienced by people affected by TB.
11 December 2023, Geneva, Switzerland - On International Human Rights Day (10 December), the Stop TB Partnership reaffirms the urgent need for a human-rights-based approach to end tuberculosis (TB), the world’s deadliest infectious disease.
A human-rights-based approach to TB recognizes and upholds the fundamental rights of all people affected by the disease, including the right to health, non-discrimination, and participation in decision-making. The approach is founded on the dignity and autonomy of people affected by TB and the critical role they must play in all aspects of the disease response. We believe this approach is essential to ensure that everyone has access to quality TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment, and care, regardless of their background or circumstances.
Despite being a preventable and treatable disease, TB claims the
lives of 1.3 million people a year, disproportionately affecting
those most vulnerable, including people living in poverty and
marginalized communities.
Stop TB Partnership works with partners around the world to
implement a human-rights-based approach. Through the Challenge
Facility for Civil Society and during the last 3 years, we have
invested USD18 million in Community, Rights and Gender (CRG)
initiatives to identify and overcome barriers to TB care and
support services, stigma, and human rights violations.
To further enhance a rights-based approach to TB, Stop TB
Partnership together with KELIN from Kenya and partners
developed the
Legal Environment and Human Rights Scorecard, which was
launched on the margins of the Union World Conference on Lung
Health 2023 in Paris.
The Scorecard aims to enhance visibility and
multisectoral accountability regarding legal, policy and human
rights barriers experienced by people affected by TB. The 8
themes of the scorecard are:
- Availability, accessibility, acceptability and quality (AAAQ)
- Non-discrimination and equal treatment
- Health-related freedoms
- Gender perspective
- TB Key and vulnerable populations
- Participation
- Remedies and accountability
- Social protection
The key contributors to the scorecard were The Global Fund and
L’Initiative-Expertise France while the human rights
investments were funded by the USAID.
The Scorecard is, therefore, instrumental in informing
evidence-based advocacy efforts, to support people to access the
TB prevention, diagnosis, treatment, care and support that they
are entitled to and can support countries to reach their targets
and commitments to end TB.
With affected communities at the helm, people affected by TB
assume leadership positions to generate the evidence required to
advocate for the changes required for an enabling legal and
policy environment in TB.
"On this World Human Rights Day, KELIN is proud to celebrate its
role in shaping a pivotal instrument for the advancement of both
tuberculosis and human rights initiatives globally. We call upon
communities to embrace and employ this scorecard, not only as a
means to hold governments accountable but also as a vital tool
to generate compelling evidence for advocating a TB response
that upholds the rights of TB champions and communities at
large." Allan Maleche, Executive Director KELIN
“The Legal Environment and Human Rights Scorecard is a
unique and essential tool that will allow countries to move from
the rhetoric of human rights in TB to the realization of
people’s rights in the TB response” Brian Citro,
Human Rights Lawyer and Professor of Law.
Access the Scorecard here.
Source:
Stop TB Partnership
