A/79/177 persons living with HIV or hepatitis, persons with disabilities, persons in situations of homelessness or poverty, persons deprived of their liberty, and persons living in rural areas. 6. The Special Rapporteur addresses how harm reduction can align with the right to health and related rights in the context of universal health coverage and the rights of those in situations of vulnerability, including conflict, health emergencies and climate change. II. Methodology 7. The Special Rapporteur builds on her predecessors’ work, in which they analysed the role of harm reduction to address the human rights impacts of international drug laws and policies as part of the “war on drugs”, and how these legal frameworks have contributed to an environment of increased human rights risks and violations. 7 8. She aims to illustrate the applicability of the harm reduction model beyond drug use across a wider realm. She does so by exploring various examples of public health issues, whose associated harms often derive not necessarily from a behaviour or substance itself, but from the legal frameworks surrounding them. She notes that the examples provided in the report are not exhaustive with respect to the potential applicability of the harm reduction model. She intends to continue exploring other applications going forward. 9. In preparing the present report, the Special Rapporteur issued a call for inputs inviting stakeholders to share their lived experiences and knowledge of relevant laws, policies and practices, with a particular focus on the persons and communities that have long been discriminated against and made most vulnerable. 8 The Special Rapporteur expresses her appreciation to all stakeholders who contributed to the report. III. Legal framework A. Human rights framework 9 10. The social, political and commercial determinants of health frameworks, with the considerations on substantive equality, can inform the normative content of the underlying determinants of health. The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development provides a clear framework of the connection between the different Goals for achieving the right to health while leaving no one behind. 11. The right to health is tied to a number of other rights, such as the right to information, both as a component of the right to health 10 and as a stand-alone right. 11 The right to information requires the establishment of prevention and education programmes for behaviour-related health concerns. 12 Where many diseases are the result of preventable risk factors, access to clear, accessible and relevant information __________________ 7 8 9 10 11 12 4/28 See A/65/255; and Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), “Statement by the UN expert on the right to health on the protection of people who use drugs during the COVID-19 pandemic”, 16 April 2020. See www.ohchr.org/en/calls-for-input/2024/harm-reduction-sustainable-peace-and-development. A/HRC/56/52, paras. 15–25. E/C.12/2000/4, para. 12 (b). International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, art. 19.2. E/C.12/2000/4, para. 16. 24-13226