Global Health and Foreign Policy : Addressing the Health of the Most Vulnerable for an Inclusive Society

Urges Member States to respect, protect and promote the right to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health, with particular attention given to the health needs of the most vulnerable, and to consider health in a holistic manner, including in the formulation of foreign policy;

Calls upon Member States and the United Nations system to urgently and effectively assist countries affected by the cholera epidemic in the strengthening of their national health, water and sanitation systems in order to eliminate cholera;

Calls upon Member States to accelerate progress towards the goal of universal health coverage, which implies that all people have equal access, without discrimination of any kind, to nationally determined sets of quality promotive, preventive, curative, rehabilitative and palliative basic health services needed and essential, safe, affordable, effective and quality medicines, while ensuring that the use of such services and medicines does not expose the users to financial hardship, with a specific emphasis on the poor, vulnerable and marginalized segments of the population;

Encourages Member States to promote the effective, full and meaningful participation of all, in particular those who are vulnerable or 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;

Calls upon the international community and global health partners, as well as regional and national stakeholders, to support Member States in carrying out their primary responsibilities to accelerate the transition towards universal health coverage, and tackle social, economic and environmental determinants of health, as well as demographic challenges, including population ageing, provide social protection and adopt integrated, people-centred, community-based and gender-responsive health services based on human rights, which will help to empower those who are vulnerable or in vulnerable situations, enhance health equity and equality, end discrimination and create a more inclusive society;

Encourages Member States to secure sustainable financing for health research and development on emerging and re-emerging diseases, neglected tropical diseases, non-communicable diseases, including cancers and mental health, and antimicrobials, promote safe, affordable, effective and quality medicines, including antimicrobials and traditional medicines, and vaccines, enhance access to health products, therapies and medical devices, and promote preventive and treatment interventions and diagnostics for all those in need, in particular for the most vulnerable;

Calls upon Member States to promote and strengthen, as appropriate, their dialogue with other stakeholders, including civil society, academia and the private sector, in order to maximize their engagement in and contribution to the implementation of health goals and targets through an intersectoral and multi-stakeholder approach, while at the same time safeguarding public health interests from undue influence by any form of real, perceived or potential conflict of interest, through the management of risk, the strengthening of due diligence and accountability, the promotion of policy coherence and an increase in the transparency of engagement;

Encourages the development of innovative and sustainable mechanisms to ensure necessary and sustained health financing and enhance international coordination and an enabling environment at all levels to strengthen health systems, and promote universal access to quality health services, including through partnerships with civil society and the private sector;

Encourages Governments, the United Nations system, civil society, local communities, the private sector and other stakeholders to scale up efforts on an urgent basis to achieve the goals of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS 2016–2021 Strategy and the 2016 Political Declaration on HIV and AIDS: On the Fast Track to Accelerating the Fight against HIV and to Ending the AIDS Epidemic by 2030¹⁵ as an important prerequisite and enabler for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals, while recognizing the critical importance of the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS in actively contributing to and engaging in the follow-up and review process with respect to progress on the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development;¹⁶

Urges Member States to 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 Development5 and the Beijing Platform for Action4 and the outcome documents of their review conferences;

Urges Member States to develop, implement and evaluate policies and programmes that promote healthy and active ageing and the highest attainable standard of health and well-being for older persons, and to develop health care for older persons as part of primary care in the existing national health systems;

Calls upon all Member States to tackle health inequities and inequalities within and across countries through political commitment and national policies that address social, economic and environmental determinants of health, including through health promotion, disease prevention and health care, and promoting availability of and access to goods and services essential to health and well-being;

Urges Member States to reinforce the protection of medical personnel and humanitarian personnel exclusively engaged in medical duties, their means of transport and equipment, and hospitals and other medical facilities, especially in armed conflict, consistent with their specific obligations under international humanitarian law, recognizing the need to enhance the protection of medical missions in order to support the restoration and provision of essential health-care services to ensure that physical and mental health needs are met for civilians affected by conflict, in particular for women and children;

Encourages greater coherence and coordination among United Nations bodies, specialized agencies and entities on matters related to global health and foreign policy, including through the consideration, where appropriate, of related actions;

Requests the Secretary-General, in close collaboration with the World Health Organization, development partners and other relevant initiatives, such as the International Health Partnership for UHC2030, to provide support to Member States, especially through technical assistance and capacity-building programmes, for the development and strengthening of the sustainability of universal health coverage at the national level with the aim of promoting access to health services for the most vulnerable;

Requests the Secretary-General, in close collaboration with the Director General of the World Health Organization as well as other relevant international organizations, to report to the General Assembly at its seventy-third session, under the item entitled “Global health and foreign policy”, on improving international coordination and cooperation to address the health needs of the most vulnerable for the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals.