02119nas a2200205   4500000000100000008004100001260003700042653002400079653005700103100001600160700001300176700001300189700001300202245007900215856009900294300001300393490000700406520148600413022001401899       2022                            d  bPublic Library of Science (PLoS)10aInfectious Diseases10aPublic Health, Environmental and Occupational Health1 aWilliams CR1 aSeunik M1 aMeier BM1 aDowns JA00aHuman rights as a framework for eliminating female genital schistosomiasis  uhttps://journals.plos.org/plosntds/article/file?id=10.1371/journal.pntd.0010165&type=printable  ae00101650 v163 a<p>Female genital schistosomiasis (FGS) affects tens of millions of women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa, yet this inequitable threat is often overlooked by advocates in both the neglected tropical disease (NTD) and sexual and reproductive health and rights (SRHR) communities. FGS causes both acute infection and long-term sexual and reproductive health harm to marginalized women and girls, with gender, poverty, and rurality combining to invisibilize the disease. Human rights and gender imperatives can help to galvanize efforts to control and eliminate FGS, as they have for other NTDs. Specifically, international human rights obligations can frame state efforts to address FGS across healthcare settings, upstream social determinants of health, scientific research, and policy implementation. This article analyzes human rights–based approaches to FGS control and elimination efforts, outlining several areas for forward-looking reforms to health policy, programing, and practice. Building from the lessons learned in applying human rights–based approaches to advance progress on other NTDs, this analysis seeks to provide the NTD community with shared understanding around international legal obligations to engage SRHR advocates and draw heightened attention to FGS. Such human rights–based approaches to FGS control and elimination can help to reduce stigma and improve care for the millions of women and girls currently affected by this preventable disease.</p>
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