Request for Letters of Intent: Community-Led Monitoring and Advocacy on TB/HIV Policies and Programs in East and Southern Africa

Date:

August 26, 2008

Public Health Watch, a project of the Public Health Program of the Open Society Institute, announces a new grant initiative to support civil society monitoring and advocacy on policy and program efforts to reduce the burden of TB in people living with HIV in East and Southern Africa, with a particular focus on preventing, detecting, and treating TB among people living with HIV.

The goals of the project are to support organizations’ specific advocacy priorities and strengthen their capacity and skills in monitoring and advocating on national TB/HIV policies and programs.

Eligibility

Community-based organizations in Botswana, Kenya, Lesotho, Malawi, South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are invited to apply. Priority will be given to organizations who have TB/HIV as an important component of their organization’s mission, as well as those interested in developing their monitoring and advocacy capacity on national TB/HIV policies and programs.

TB/HIV in Africa

TB is the leading cause of death in people living with HIV in Africa. Nine of the ten countries with the highest TB prevalence among people living with HIV in the world are in Africa; seven of these countries are in East and Southern Africa. TB is more difficult to diagnose and more complicated to treat in people living with HIV, leading to delays in TB treatment and increased risk for rapid disease progression. This combination of diseases as well as the increase in multi and extensively drug resistant TB is causing increased fear, stigma, and discrimination against people with TB, which has led to human rights abuses, including “emergency” measures to detain drug-resistant TB patients in inhumane conditions.

TB treatment for people living with HIV should be provided in a way that respects human rights and ensures the most success; namely, avoiding detention of TB patients, and developing and using community-based models of care whenever possible. The relationship between TB incidence and HIV prevalence, challenges in TB/HIV diagnosis and treatment, and stigma and discrimination represent serious threats to gains made in scaling up HIV treatment.