NEWS ON THE FIGHT TO END HIV/AIDS, HEPATITIS C, AND TUBERCULOSIS
Realizing the Right to Science
From the epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic, we’re proud to launch this edition of TAGline, focused on the right to science. For 28 years—during which time New York City evolved from being the epicenter of the HIV epidemic to a leader in ending it—TAGline has been a lifeline of information, and a rallying cry for political will and evidence-based action. This edition is especially timely, as we confront the challenges of the novel coronavirus and the danger of abandoning the efforts to end HIV, tuberculosis, and hepatitis C.
We dedicate this TAGline to those we’ve lost to the COVID-19 pandemic, including Professor Gita Ramjee, whose HIV research embodied the right to science. As we note in our dedication, “only when science and human rights prevail over politics and grandstanding can we mitigate to the fullest extent possible the harms and losses from these pandemics.”
In this issue of TAGline you’ll find:
Realizing the Right to Science
By Erica Lessem and Suraj Madoori
The Right to Science Finally Comes into Sight
By Mike Frick
Opportunities for Activism with the Right to Science
By Erica Lessem
The Right to Quality TB Diagnostic Testing
By David Branigan
Considerations on the Right to Science for Developing Simpler, Point-of-Care Diagnostics
By Annette Gaudino and Bryn Gay