The head must follow what the hand writes
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Shobha Shukla
Contd from previous issue
- Publicly-available annual report, including on TB-related funding, from the UN Secretary-General to monitor and evaluate progress towards ending TB, and of investments in TB R&D;
- Annual reports by Heads of countries, of high-level country reviews on progress to end TB;
* Developing and implementing National Strategic Plans with bold actions and targets, as well as financing plans, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of ending TB by 2030.
* Ensure that TB-affected communities and civil society, supported by national networks, are included in national governance mechanisms for TB and TB/HIV, and support development of community- and TB survivor led reports in 2025 and 2027 to form part of the basis to measure achievements against commitments made in the Political Declaration.
TB affected communities and civil society organizations expect that the forthcoming UNHLM on TB will adequately address key issues critical to ending TB and will formulate a time bound roadmap for accelerating progress towards achieving the global TB targets and the commitments outlined in the SDGs.
They demand a comprehensive declaration that prioritises timely access to affordable diagnostics, medicines, and treatment, and recognizes the needs, rights and voices of vulnerable populations, including adolescents, migrants, refugees, people who use drugs, prisoners, and other marginalized communities.
However, past experience shows that our political heads are indeed extraordinarily smart in issuing and signing grandiose declarations, but lack the morality to uphold them, more so in the absence of any legally binding accountability framework. Merely issuing political declarations is not enough. Accountability and political will is the crux of the solution. Unless the head follows what the hand signs or writes, we will fail in our efforts for a TB free world.
Shobha Shukla – CNS (Citizen News Service)
(Shobha Shukla attended the 2018 United Nations High Level Meeting in New York where the above-mentioned commitments to end TB were made by heads of our governments. She is the award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service) and is a feminist, health and development justice advocate. She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College and current Coordinator of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media). Follow her on Twitter @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)
Contd from previous issue
- Publicly-available annual report, including on TB-related funding, from the UN Secretary-General to monitor and evaluate progress towards ending TB, and of investments in TB R&D;
- Annual reports by Heads of countries, of high-level country reviews on progress to end TB;
* Developing and implementing National Strategic Plans with bold actions and targets, as well as financing plans, and monitoring and evaluation frameworks to achieve the UN Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) target of ending TB by 2030.
* Ensure that TB-affected communities and civil society, supported by national networks, are included in national governance mechanisms for TB and TB/HIV, and support development of community- and TB survivor led reports in 2025 and 2027 to form part of the basis to measure achievements against commitments made in the Political Declaration.
TB affected communities and civil society organizations expect that the forthcoming UNHLM on TB will adequately address key issues critical to ending TB and will formulate a time bound roadmap for accelerating progress towards achieving the global TB targets and the commitments outlined in the SDGs.
They demand a comprehensive declaration that prioritises timely access to affordable diagnostics, medicines, and treatment, and recognizes the needs, rights and voices of vulnerable populations, including adolescents, migrants, refugees, people who use drugs, prisoners, and other marginalized communities.
However, past experience shows that our political heads are indeed extraordinarily smart in issuing and signing grandiose declarations, but lack the morality to uphold them, more so in the absence of any legally binding accountability framework. Merely issuing political declarations is not enough. Accountability and political will is the crux of the solution. Unless the head follows what the hand signs or writes, we will fail in our efforts for a TB free world.
Shobha Shukla – CNS (Citizen News Service)
(Shobha Shukla attended the 2018 United Nations High Level Meeting in New York where the above-mentioned commitments to end TB were made by heads of our governments. She is the award-winning founding Managing Editor and Executive Director of CNS (Citizen News Service) and is a feminist, health and development justice advocate. She is a former senior Physics faculty of prestigious Loreto Convent College and current Coordinator of Asia Pacific Regional Media Alliance for Health and Development (APCAT Media). Follow her on Twitter @shobha1shukla or read her writings here www.bit.ly/ShobhaShukla)