The Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health in the Implementation of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development

A/HRC/RES/35/23View PDF

Who created this mandate?

A Resolution of the Human Rights Council, under agenda item 3Promotion and protection of all human rights, civil, political, economic, social and cultural rights, including the right to development, published in 2017.

What subjects does this mandate have?

7 topics

Development Indicators Health Indicators Health Policy Human Rights Report Preparation Right to Health Sustainable Development

What does this mandate say?

15 operative paragraphs

Takes note of the report of the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;

Calls upon States to respect, protect and fulfil the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, with special attention to groups in vulnerable situations;

Urges States to work towards the full implementation of all Sustainable Development Goals and targets with a view to contributing to the realization of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including, inter alia, the following targets of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development:

Target 3.1: By 2030, reduce the global maternal mortality ratio to less than 70 per 100,000 live births;

Target 3.2: By 2030, end preventable deaths of newborns and children under 5 years of age, with all countries aiming to reduce neonatal mortality to at least as low as 12 per 1,000 live births and under-5 mortality to at least as low as 25 per 1,000 live births;

Target 3.3: By 2030, end the epidemics of AIDS, tuberculosis, malaria and neglected tropical diseases and combat hepatitis, water-borne diseases and other communicable diseases;

Target 3.4: By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention and treatment and promote mental health and well-being;

Target 3.5: Strengthen the prevention and treatment of substance abuse, including narcotic drug abuse and harmful use of alcohol;

Target 3.6: By 2020, halve the number of global deaths and injuries from road traffic accidents;

Target 3.7: By 2030, ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health-care services, including for family planning, information and education, and the integration of reproductive health into national strategies and programmes;

Target 3.8: Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all;

Target 3.9: By 2030, substantially reduce the number of deaths and illnesses from hazardous chemicals and air, water and soil pollution and contamination;

Target 3.a: Strengthen the implementation of the World Health Organization Framework Convention on Tobacco Control in all countries, as appropriate;

Target 3.b: Support the research and development of vaccines and medicines for the communicable and non-communicable diseases that primarily affect developing countries, provide access to affordable essential medicines and vaccines, in accordance with the Doha Declaration on the TRIPS Agreement and Public Health, which affirms the right of developing countries to use to the full the provisions in the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights regarding flexibilities to protect public health, and, in particular, provide access to medicines for all;

Target 3.c: Substantially increase health financing and the recruitment, development, training and retention of the health workforce in developing countries, especially in least developed countries and small island developing States;

Target 3.d: Strengthen the capacity of all countries, in particular developing countries, for early warning, risk reduction and management of national and global health risks; and

Target 5.6: Ensure universal access to sexual and reproductive health and reproductive rights as agreed in accordance with the Programme of Action of the International Conference on Population and Development and the Beijing Platform for Action and the outcome documents of their review conferences;

Also urges States to bring their laws, policies and practices, including their strategies towards the implementation of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals, fully into compliance with their obligations under international human rights law, and to review and, where necessary, repeal those that are discriminatory;

Encourages States to promote the effective, full and meaningful participation of all, in particular of those in vulnerable situations, in the design, implementation and monitoring of law, policies and programmes relevant to realizing the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health and to implementing the health-related Sustainable Development Goals, including strategies for universal health coverage;

Also encourages States, when monitoring progress in the implementation of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals, to use high-quality, timely and reliable data, disaggregated by income, gender, age, race, ethnicity, migratory status, disability, geographic location and other characteristics relevant in national contexts, while respecting human rights principles, including participation, self-identification, transparency, privacy and accountability;

Further encourages States to empower users of health-care services to know and demand their rights, including through health and human rights literacy, and to provide human rights education and training for health workers, with special focus on non-discrimination, free and informed consent, confidentiality, privacy and the duty to provide treatment, and to exchange best practices in this regard;

Encourages States, when reporting on the implementation of the Sustainable Development Goals to the high-level political forum on sustainable development, to include in their national voluntary reports references to the human rights dimension, in particular to the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health;

Calls upon the international community to continue to assist developing countries in promoting 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, in particular essential medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and medical devices that are affordable, safe, efficacious and of quality; financial and technical support and training of personnel, while recognizing that the primary responsibility for promoting and protecting all human rights rests with States; and recognizes the fundamental relevant importance of the transfer of environmentally sound technologies on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed;

Calls upon States to fulfil their respective official development assistance commitments, including the commitments by many developed countries to achieve the target of 0.7 per cent of gross national income for official development assistance, and urges those developed countries that have not done so to make concrete efforts in this regard in accordance with their commitments;

Encourages the Special Rapporteur, while considering the many ways towards the full realization of the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, to continue to focus on the human rights dimension that could contribute to the effective implementation of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals and targets;

Also encourages the Special Rapporteur to continue to advise States, intergovernmental organizations, civil society, the private sector and other stakeholders on effective and sustainable practices to respect, protect and fulfil the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health in the implementation of the 2030 Agenda, and to follow up and participate in relevant international forums and major events in this regard, including the annual sessions of the World Health Assembly and of the high-level political forum;

Requests the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to prepare a report that presents contributions of the right to health framework to the effective implementation and achievement of the health-related Sustainable Development Goals, identifying best practices, challenges and obstacles thereto, and to submit it to the Human Rights Council at its thirty-eighth session;

Encourages the High Commissioner, when elaborating the above-mentioned report, to consult and take into account the views of Member States and all relevant stakeholders, including relevant United Nations bodies, agencies, funds and programmes, especially the World Health Organization, the treaty bodies, special procedure mandate holders, national human rights institutions and civil society, as well as their work on the issue;

Calls upon States and all relevant stakeholders, including relevant United Nations bodies, agencies, funds and programmes, treaty bodies, special procedure mandate holders, national human rights institutions and civil society, to contribute to the report of the High Commissioner.

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