Access to Medicines, Vaccines and Other Health Products in the Context of the Right of Everyone to the Enjoyment of the Highest Attainable Standard of Physical and Mental Health

Calls upon States to promote timely, equitable and unhindered access to safe, effective, quality and affordable medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics, and other health products and technologies, for all, including through the full use of the provisions of the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS Agreement), which provide flexibility for that purpose, while recognizing that the protection of intellectual property is important for the development of new and innovative medicines and vaccines, and the concerns about its effects on prices and public health;

Also calls upon States to take steps to implement policies and plans to promote access to comprehensive and cost-effective prevention, treatment and care for the integrated management of non-communicable diseases, including, inter alia, increased access to affordable, safe, effective and quality medicines, vaccines and diagnostics and other health products, including through the full use of TRIPS Agreement provisions and flexibilities;

Urges States and all relevant stakeholders, in order to ensure timely, equitable and unhindered access for all persons to safe, affordable, effective and quality medicines, vaccines, diagnostics and therapeutics, and other health products and technologies with a view to advancing the realization of the Sustainable Development Goals:

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, medical devices, assistive technologies and other health products that are affordable, safe, effective and of quality, and through financial and technical support, training of personnel and other capacity-building measures, while recognizing that the primary responsibility for respecting, protecting and fulfilling all human rights rests with States, and recognizing also the fundamental importance of the transfer of environmentally sound technologies on favourable terms, including on concessional and preferential terms, as mutually agreed;

Encourages States, in cooperation with other stakeholders, to redouble efforts to achieve a continuous supply of quality, safe, effective and affordable health products through research and development that meets public health needs, for the efficient application and management of intellectual property standards, to carry out evidence-based selection of health products and to seek fair and affordable pricing, to adopt good procurement and supply chain management and to promote appropriate prescribing, dispensing and rational use of health products;

Urges all States, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, and relevant intergovernmental organizations, especially the World Health Organization, within their respective mandates, and encourages non-governmental organizations and relevant stakeholders, including pharmaceutical companies, to promote innovative research and development to address health needs in developing countries, including access to safe, effective, quality and affordable medicines and vaccines, in particular with regard to diseases disproportionately affecting developing countries, and the challenges arising from the growing burden of non-communicable diseases, while taking into account the Global Strategy and Plan of Action on Public Health, Innovation and Intellectual Property of the World Health Organization;

Requests the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights to enhance its work, within its mandate, in the field of the human rights dimension of access to medicines and vaccines, in the context of the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health as guaranteed by the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights;

Invites the Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, 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 of timely, equitable and unhindered access to safe, affordable, effective and quality medicines, vaccines and other health products globally during current and future health emergencies when discharging his or her duties, in accordance with the mandate;

Invites States and all stakeholders, including relevant United Nations bodies, agencies, funds and programmes, treaty bodies, special procedure mandate holders, national human rights institutions, civil society and the private sector, to promote policy coherence in the areas of human rights, public health, intellectual property and international trade and investment when considering access to medicines and vaccines;

Requests the Office of the High Commissioner to continue its work, within its mandate, to provide technical assistance to States throughout the next three years on the human rights dimension of access to medicines and vaccines in the context of the right of everyone to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, including with regard to barriers to access for vulnerable segments of the population and for developing countries, in particular least developed States, landlocked States and small island developing States, and with regard to models, mechanisms and arrangements of international and regional cooperation, and to present an analytical study on protection gaps of vulnerable segments of the population to the Human Rights Council at its sixty-second session, with a view to presenting to the Council, at its sixty-eighth session, a comprehensive report, including on the measures necessary to bridge protection gaps to ensure the accessibility and availability of medicines, vaccines and other health products, and to prepare the above submissions in an accessible and easy-to-read format;

Also requests the Office of the High Commissioner to seek input from experts from diverse geographic regions, including from States and local governments, relevant intergovernmental organizations, United Nations agencies, funds and programmes, relevant special procedures of the Human Rights Council, the treaty bodies, national human rights institutions and civil society representatives, including relevant non-governmental organizations, in the preparation of the above-mentioned study and report;

Calls upon the Office of the High Commissioner to continue its work and set its priorities on economic, social and cultural rights, taking into consideration relevant resolutions and decisions of the Human Rights Council, with due regard to the fulfilment of the obligations of international cooperation as essential requirements for the realization of these rights.