Civil society has been – and continues to be – actively involved in every phase of the Tuberculosis and HIV response, across the continuum of care, from advocacy to service delivery, from policy to program design, implementation to monitoring and evaluation. Given the tremendous diversity within civil society, meaningful engagement with civil society takes many forms. Countries, regions, and mandates of civil society groups widely vary.
Under IMPAACT4TB, the Treatment Action Group(TAG) is the lead partner in supporting global and national advocacy by civil society and community-based organizations to scale-up TPT and pediatric-TB interventions. TAG works with selected civil society organisations to undertake and support advocacy for TPT and pediatric TB at the global, regional, and national levels to bring together civil society partners from project countries to undertake targeted advocacy at national level aimed at introducing and scaling up 3HP, including for people living with HIV and children under the age of 5 years old. These partners across our 12 countries work collectively with TAG and support other Consortium members.
Success stories from the TB community include initiatives that have effectively engaged and empowered patients, improved access to diagnosis and treatment, and reduced stigma and discrimination associated with the disease.
The civil society cohort of partners plays a critical role in advocating for increased political commitment and funding for TB prevention, diagnosis, and treatment, and in promoting the rights and needs of TB-affected communities.
The #RightToPreventTB Campaign aims to raise awareness about the human right to health and the need for governments to prioritize efforts to prevent and control TB as part of their commitment to achieving universal health coverage.
Advocacy tools such as petitions, social media toolkits, and community mobilization guides are effective in engaging and mobilizing individuals and organizations to take action and advocate for greater attention and resources to address global health challenges such as TB.