In an effort to better coordinate the work of UN agencies and partners, and in recognition of the human rights component of TB and related illnesses, UNAIDS, the WHO and the Stop TB Partnership are in the process of creating a TB and Human Rights Task Force.
The Task Force, currently in the planning stages, will aim to promote a “rights-based approach” to the illness and strategise on how to best protect the human rights of those most vulnerable to and impacted by tuberculosis infection.
The WHO’s Diana Weil, speaking on behalf of the group, says the idea stemmed from a 2001 Stop TB forum which highlighted the potential threat to and protection of rights for vulnerable groups, including women, migrants, prisoners, refugees, and those living with HIV.
Since that time, however, other issues with regards to TB and human rights have emerged, perhaps most prominently MDR-TB.
“Recently, we’ve seen a lot of questions concerning the rights of individuals” says Weil, pointing to cases in South Africa where people “diagnosed with MDR-TB were being detained.”
Such methods “did not address the needs of those patients. They didn’t have proper facilities, access to due process, and it wasn’t clear why they were being isolated or for how long, and what would happen in terms of access to treatment.”
Weil continues: “With the new…government they’ve said ‘we want community-based treatment and community based options.’ People may need to be hospitalized if they get ill…but that should be for the most limited period of time possible.”
The Task Force is concerned with protecting both the rights of TB patients, as well as those vulnerable to TB infection.
“How do you protect the rights of as many people possible from infection, as well as those who are ill?" asks Daina Weil. "We believe in the right to the protection from the risks to health,” which includes access fulfilling the right to adequate housing, food, water, and health care.
In order to comprehensively address human rights for all vulnerable populations, the Task Force will aim to include broad representation from across the world. At a planning meeting for the group that took place in preparation for the 40th Union World Conference on Lung Health last week, “various stakeholders from as may communities as we could [get] together…discussed what should be the aim of this task force, who should participate, and the key objectives that we want.”
While there is already a plethora of work being done on human rights and illness, coordination between such efforts is needed. Groups interested in specific constituencies, such as those that work with prisoners and migrants, are also already involved with the intersection of human rights and health.
But while many agencies and organizations are already “working in very close groups…we want to look at how we can make it bigger” and specifically “harmonise the work that’s been done on TB, HIV and human rights amongst UN agencies.” Weil highlights UNAIDS work on rights and responsibilities of states with regards to HIV as an example of a potential direction for the group.
While the Task Force is still in its infancy, Weil says the team hopes to “put together a policy framework…that would lay out what is a rights based approaches. But more important is a strategic agenda of what partners could do to respond to the issues and problems. We don’t just want to do a problem statement.”
“We want to enhance rights and the application of rights,” she continues. “This isn’t about maintaining the status quo, but enhancing the understanding of human rights approach.” Weil says the group also hopes to tackle legal issues through legislative documents that could help to identify and rectify so-called public health laws that restrict human rights.
Sources
“Stop TB Partnership TB and Human Rights Task Force to Advance a Rights-Based Approach to TB Prevention, Care and Control: Draft Terms of Reference.” 2009.
Weil, D. Personal interview, recorded at 40th Union World Conference on Lung Health, 2009.