September 11, 2016
The Special Rapporteur on the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health recently issued his second report to the UN General Assembly. The report focuses on the links between the Sustainable Development Goals and health and human rights.
Summary
The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) provide an opportunity to improve the health and human rights of those furthest behind. Human rights and the right-to-health framework can contribute to their effective implementation and achievement. The present report highlights the mutually reinforcing complementarities between the SDGs and the right to health. It considers four issues in focus to illustrate how the right to health can help to address critical implementation gaps within the SDG framework, namely, equality and non-discrimination; accountability; universal health coverage; and violence as a public health issue in the SDGs.
The report will be presented at the seventy-first regular session of the UN General Assembly, which will take place from 13 to 20 September 2016.