IDPC contribution for the upcoming report of the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) on the Sustainable Development Goals and Health

The International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC, www.idpc.net) is a global network of 177 NGOs coming together to promote drug policies grounded in the principles of health, human rights, development, social inclusion, human security and civil society participation.

IDPC welcomes the call for contributions from the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) for the preparation of its report on the Sustainable Development Goals and health, as mandated under the General Assembly Resolution 35/23. We note the concerns, raised in Resolution 35/23, that ‘54 per cent of persons living with HIV are in need of treatment, many of whom do not know their HIV status’. We also welcome the recognition of the ‘need for States to address the social, economic and environmental determinants of health, as well as to address holistically a range of barriers arising from inequality and discrimination that impede access to health-care services’.