21-22 November 2018 l Benoni, South Africa - Key stakeholders and partners strategized in Benoni, South Africa to plan a comprehensive response to gender and human rights-related barriers in HIV and TB.
Welcoming the 85 participants, Commissioner Jonas Ben Sibanyoni from the South African Human Rights Council (SAHRC) emphasized the need to fulfill the right to health for everyone, while South Africa Deputy Minister for Social Development Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu called for prevention and testing of those at risk of TB, especially families of people with TB. She called for strong multi-stakeholder partnerships and breaking the silos between health and social development.
In the two-day meeting also served as the platform to pre-validated the Communities, Rights and Gender (CRG) Assessments to provide a current and improved perspective to support reviewing national policies and practices, focusing on human rights and gender-based approaches to TB and HIV.
"Human rights violations put people at risk of getting TB. But things don’t stop there. Once they have TB it has a roll-on effect to affect many other important human rights," said Director of the South Africa National TB Program, Dr David Mametja.