A/HRC/RES/17/14
right to development and should ensure, inter alia, equality of opportunity for all in their
access to basic resources, such as health services,
Recalling also the ministerial declaration on implementing the internationally agreed
goals and commitments with regard to global public health of the 2009 high-level segment
of the Economic and Social Council,
Concerned that, for millions of people throughout the world, the full realization of
the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and
mental health, including through access to medicines that are affordable, safe, effective and
of good quality, in particular essential medicines, vaccines and other medical products, and
to health-care facilities and services, still remains a distant goal and that, in many cases,
especially for those living in poverty, this goal remains remote,
Recalling that access to medicine is one of the fundamental elements in achieving
progressively the full realization of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest
attainable standard of physical and mental health, and that it is the responsibility of States
to ensure access for all, without discrimination, to medicines, in particular essential
medicines, that are affordable, safe, effective and of good quality,
Recognizing the need for States, in cooperation with international organizations and
civil society, including non-governmental organizations and the private sector, to create
favourable conditions at the national, regional and international levels to ensure the full and
effective enjoyment of the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical
and mental health,
Recalling that the Doha Ministerial Declaration on the Agreement on Trade-Related
Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights and Public Health confirms that the Agreement does
not and should not prevent members of the World Trade Organization from taking
measures to protect public health and that the Declaration, accordingly, while reiterating the
commitment to the Agreement, affirms that it can and should be interpreted and
implemented in a manner supportive of the rights of members of the Organization to protect
public health and, in particular, to promote access to medicines for all, and further
recognizes, in this connection, the right of members of the Organization to use, to the full,
the provisions of the above-mentioned Agreement, which provide flexibility for this
purpose,
Concerned about the interrelatedness between poverty and the realization of the
right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health, in particular the fact that ill health can be both a cause and a consequence of
poverty,
Concerned also that the increasing incidence of non-communicable diseases
constitutes a heavy burden on society, with serious social and economic consequences, and
aware that there is a need to respond to cardiovascular diseases, cancers, diabetes and
chronic respiratory diseases, which represent a leading threat to human health and
development,
1.
Takes note of the annual report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of
everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health;1
2.
Recognizes the progressive realization of the right of everyone to the
enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health as one of the
1
2
A/HRC/17/25.