OSI's Public Health Watch has joined more than 50 civil society organizations from 31 countries in petitioning the World Health Organization's Stop TB Department to ensure greater opportunities for civil society input into the preparation of the annual Global Report on Tuberculosis Control.
The text of the petition is as follows:
Joint Proposal for Enhancing Civil Society Participation in WHO TB Reporting Processes
As the entity guiding the UN response to the TB epidemic, the WHO Stop TB Department prepares and issues an annual report, Global Tuberculosis Control: Surveillance, Planning, Financing. This report charts the progress of high-burden countries in meeting their TB-control commitments under the Amsterdam Declaration and Washington Commitment.
Government input into the Global TB Control report is assured, as the report is based on the national data submitted annually by high-burden country governments. However, the Amsterdam Declaration also calls for the promotion of “national and international partnerships to stop TB with all stakeholders in society, including government departments and organizations, private health sector, industry, nongovernmental organizations and the community” and the active participation of signatories in “the development and subsequent implementation of a global partnership agreement…designed to foster ownership & accountability" (emphasis added).
Given its leadership role, we believe the WHO Stop TB Department has a critical role to play in enhancing the visible opportunities for nongovernmental participation in the process of researching, preparing, presenting and commenting on the Global TB Control report, and in reporting on the TB situation beyond the high-burden countries as well. We believe qualitative input and engagement from independent civil society organizations—particularly those including persons directly affected by TB and HIV/AIDS—is essential to complement the quantitative data currently included in the report, and to spark the renewed political commitment to TB control called for by the DOTS strategy.
To reinforce its public commitment to encouraging and supporting civil society participation in global TB control efforts, we urge the WHO Stop TB Department to:
- create opportunities for independent civil society organizations to review and assess the development and implementation of National Tuberculosis Programs (NTPs) on an ongoing basis, and for this input to be reflected in the annual Global Tuberculosis Control: Surveillance, Planning, Financing report;
- develop guidelines for governments and the Stop-TB Partnership to use in structuring opportunities for substantive civil society participation in ongoing reviews of NTP implementation;
- work through the Stop TB Partnership to ensure broad dissemination of these guidelines and provide technical support to both NTPs and civil society organizations to promote their implementation.
Contact Public Health Watch for information on joining the working group on this proposal and to stay informed of the WHO response.