Building the Evidence for a Rights-Based, People-Centered, Gender-Transformative Tuberculosis Response: An Analysis of the Stop TB Partnership Community, Rights, and Gender Tuberculosis Assessment

Abstract

The global tuberculosis (TB) response has undergone a transformation in recent years. Calls for a paradigm shift have inspired a new focus on the importance of communities, human rights, and gender in the response. This focus has led to new approaches and innovative tools to fight an age-old disease that still affects millions each year. Notable among these tools is the Stop TB Partnership’s community, rights, and gender (CRG) assessment. TB civil society and community groups, in partnership with national TB programs and others, have conducted the CRG assessment in 20 countries across four regions. Using the normative right to health framework, this article analyzes the evidence base generated by this assessment to understand the communities, legal environments, and gender dynamics at the heart of the epidemic. It describes an array of issues revealed by the assessment findings, including limited access to health services, disease-based discrimination, lack of privacy protections, and the impact of patriarchal norms on women affected by TB. Finally, this article considers how to strengthen the CRG assessment and how countries affected by TB and their donors and technical partners can leverage its findings in line with the Sustainable Development Goals and the political declaration from the first-ever United Nations High-Level Meeting on Tuberculosis.