A/HRC/RES/23/14
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,
Regretting the high number of people still without access to affordable, safe,
efficacious and quality medicines, and underscoring that improving such access could save
millions of lives every year, and noting with deep concern that more than one billion people
still do not have access to essential medicines,
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,
which represent a leading threat to human health and development, and recognizing the
urgent need for further measures at the global, regional and national levels to prevent and
control such diseases in order to contribute to the full realization of the right of everyone to
the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health,
Recalling General Assembly resolution 60/251 of 15 March 2006 and Human Rights
Council resolutions 5/1 and 5/2 of 18 June 2007,
1.
Takes note with appreciation of the study of the Special Rapporteur on the
right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental
health on existing challenges with regard to access to medicines in the context of that right,
ways to overcome them and good practices;1
2.
Recognizes that access to medicines 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;
3.
Stresses the responsibility of States to ensure the highest attainable level of
health for all, including through access, without discrimination, to medicines, in particular
essential medicines, that are affordable, safe, efficacious and of quality;
4.
Emphasizes the central role of prevention, the promotion of healthy lifestyles
and the strengthening of health systems;
5.
1
2
A/HRC/23/42.
Urges States, as appropriate: