The Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health releases an open letter and a thematic report drawing attention to key human rights issues in the global struggle to end TB.
On 18 June 2018, the Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health released an open letter strongly emphasizing the need for a rights-based approach to TB. The letter is issued in the context of the upcoming UN High-Level Meeting on TB in September to inform the negotiations.
The open letter draws attention to key human rights issues that the High-Level Meeting must address if it is to mark a turning point in the global struggle to end TB. It also outlines priorities on high political commitment, targets, funding, investment in research and development, access to medications and diagnostics, etc - with specific justification and recommendations.
The full letter can be read here.
On 18 June 2018, the Special Rapporteur also presented his thematic report on persons deprived of liberty to the Human Rights Council (see pages 17-19). The report includes language on the need to move away from punitive approaches, confinement in the context of prisons and hospitals, and towards community and rights-based approaches to TB. See also para 19(b) concerning punitive legal frameworks in the context of TB and public health and the overuse and inappropriate use of criminal laws.
The report can be downloaded here.