7 October 2009
UN Human Rights Council endorses harm reduction and access to essential medicines
The UN Human Rights Council, the highest political body in the UN dealing specifically with human rights, has adopted two resolutions of considerable importance to harm reduction – HIV/AIDS and human rights, and access to essential medicines. These resolutions recognise that harm reduction is a part of a rights based response to HIV/AIDS and that access to essential medicines is a component of the right to the highest attainable standard of health. This puts the Council in line with ECOSOC and the General Assembly and highlights again the isolationism of the CND on these critical issues.