Background:
Advocacy and gender equality are part and parcel of each program we implement at Mkikute.
As per the Tanzanian constitution: Article 13: All human beings are equal before the law and these equal rights can be transmitted to the right to health, right to education etc. In addressing the right to health, the focus is more on quality health care, accessibility, non-discriminatory and decent. Some of our advocacy efforts are:
• Training of our beneficiaries about their human rights
• Supporting local self-help groups
• Mukikute is a member of different networks and working groups to advocate for our beneficiaries’ rights
• Mukikute advocates for the human rights of our beneficiaries by training media personnel and soliciting their support for issues that affect communities
Under Gender equality some of the key advocacy work that we embark on are:
• Special support to women to ensure their access to health care services
• Training and conducting surveys and assessment of their human rights
• Ensure that women and men are enrolled in health programs equally
We are embarking on TB and gender efforts because, TB comprises a major portion of the global disease burden and is associated with significant gender-related disparities, defined using binary male/female gender categories. Despite the gender-based disparities in TB statistics and the considerable disease burden among both genders, relatively little attention has been focused on gender-related differences in the epidemiology, diagnosis, treatment, outcomes or socioeconomic cost of TB. It is the poorest people from the poorest countries who are most affected by tuberculosis. Not only are they more vulnerable to the disease because of their living and working conditions, but they are also plunged deeper into poverty as a consequence of tuberculosis. A PERSON WITH TB loses, on average,20-30 per cent of annual household income due to illness. The situation warrants urgent action to curb the epidemic. Examining the gender dimensions of TB is important for overcoming barriers to effective prevention, coverage and treatment of tuberculosis.
The information about TB is not well known to both men and women, thus at the Mukikute level
We are training members and volunteers to reach both men and women based on their specific needs and settings. We are advocating for strategic plans, policies and programs based on gender and TB, that recognize that women have a say when it comes to health issues.